Gratitude
by Gurrbill
Summary: A Tobuscus Fanfiction. When Toby Turner has the luck to get himself in to a car crash, a young girl manages to save his life. Now he's in debt to her. And they both have something to give. Toby X OC. (CURRENTLY BEING RE-BOOTED AND POLISHED. SORRY FOR THE INCONVENIENCE EVERYONE.)
1. The Car Crash

**Prologue **

"Gryphzor!" a young man called loudly, waving his hand in an eccentric beckoning gesture. The white dog came over immediately, tail wagging and head looking up at his master. Toby Turner crouched in front of him: "As soon as I get back, we are vlogging mister!" he ruffled the dogs' head, knowing it was weird to talk to animals; then again, that was sort of the definition of him. Weird. But in a good way. Not the creepy, I-know-where-you-live sort of way.

He stood, walked to the front door (pocketing his wallet of darkness then redness then whiteness as he did) and unlocked the door, casting one manic look at his dog. "No parties while I'm out, Gryphzor! Don't pretend I don't know what you do when I'm gone!"

The dog merely whined in response and buried his face in his paws. The tall man let out a laugh before practically leaping out of his house.

Locking his door behind him, he rushed to his car ("The outside light, it burns!") and buckled himself in, humming random tunes under his breath, before reversing from the drive and trundling down the road. He needed some food, God dangit!

I seriously need to take a break from video games, he thought to himself, twiddling with the radio dials, Otherwise I'm gonna end up shrivelling with the lack of light.

Knowing that he'd never lay off the video games, he continued fiddling with the dials until he found a good song. He blasted the volume and started nodding his head up and down crazily to the tune, the driver in the car next to him casting him odd looks. Toby just turned and waved, making the driver look even more freaked out, if that was even possible.

But that one tiny action caused his eyes to wonder from the road for a second. That one tiny action set everything in to motion, and, if it wasn't for this tiny action, this story would've never happened.

Toby tore his eyes back from the man, only to see a huge black Alsation run across the road. Hazel-green eyes widened as a foot slammed on the break and long-fingered hands turned the steering wheel with such ferocity that it might've fallen off if it hadn't been made so well.

The last thing the Youtube celebrity could remember was a loud crash, followed by total darkness. Almost like a reflex, his mind feebly thought Intro of darkness…

And so, our story begins….

**Considering this is the prologue, its gonna be a lot shorter than other chapters. And I'm sorry if Toby was OOC. It's really hard to capture his persona in words :L **


	2. Waking Up

**Chapter 1 **

Lots of voices… muffled, unfamiliar, ringing around in his head. They hurt his ears and increased the manic headache he seemed to be manifesting itself. He felt his weak hand clench over what felt like a linen bed sheet. Where was he? What was he doing here? What had happened?

And then, the fuzzy memory came back to him so quickly it hurt; swerving to avoid a dog and then a crash, ended by… complete darkness.

Despite himself, he let out a small groan as he tried flutter his eyelids open; they felt like lead. Faintly, he heard someone murmur next to him, unsure of what they said. But the next moment, he felt another hand (smaller and softer than his own) enclose around his grip. Finally, his brain got the message and his eyelids flickered open.

The first thing he saw was the bland interior of a hospital room. Light shone in through the half-closed blinds on the windows, lighting up the white even more. A cabinet was set beside him and, with mild alarm, he noticed an IV drip attached his wrist.

How long had he been out of the running?

Would his family be worried? Oh God, his mom...

And what about his fans? They would surely think it was odd not to at least put a vlog or two up…

Trying not to panic, his green eyes looked around a little more, finally coming to rest on the person holding his hand. Blearily, he looked up at her: thick, blonde hair tumbled around her shoulders, framing a pale, heart shaped face. Large grey eyes were crinkled with the smile she held; it was kind and warm, giving him a sense of safety through his moment of panic.

Before he could stop himself, Toby bleated feebly "Hothothot…"

The girl let out a small laugh and called out to someone behind her, "He's awake," Before turning back to the man. With a mental jolt, he realized she was still holding his hand.

"How are you feeling?" she asked, honey-coloured eyebrows dipping slightly with concern.

"Like I just came out of a car accident," he paused for a second, before adding dramatically, " …alive."

The girl looked as if she was about to laugh, but someone interrupted her.

"And lucky you are to be, son," said a gruff voice from the door. A bearded doctor walked in, carrying a clip-board and a pen, his face lined and stern-looking, tha ged appearance of someone who'd seen too much in a lifetime.

"If it weren't for this young lady here, you'd probably be dead." The doctor pointed his pen towards the woman, who blushed ever-so-slightly. Toby looked on in surprise; had this girl really saved his neck?

He turned back to the doctor "How long have I been out?" He asked, not sure if he wanted to know the answer.

"A little more than a day." Was the gruff answer, as the doctor scribbled something down on the clip-board, before walking back out of the room, nodding to the girl as he went. Relief flooded through Toby; no-one he knew would be worried. That set him at ease.

"I've been visiting you to see how you've been getting on," Louise mentioned, breaking through his reverie, "That was a really nasty cut on your head."

Toby's eyes widened a little as his free hand shot up to his forehead; sure enough, a thick layer of gauze was wrapped around his head. In some form of urgency, he tried to sit up, but his shoulders were pushed back down again by the girl. "You need your rest," she said in a calming tone she specifically saved for patients.

Toby felt himself relax a little more, suddenly hyper aware of her hands on his shoulders, "It wouldn't do you any good to stress yourself out, now of all times." She added, satisfied he wasn't going to try and leap up again.

Toby sighed in defeat, before looking again up at the girl. "What's your name then? I need to tell my fans about the person who saved my life, after all."

The blonde haired girl threw him a quizzical look at the word 'fans', but shrugged it off (he was a patient who had just woke up from a day-long coma, after all) and replied in a kind voice. " 'Name's Louise. Louise Walker. You?"

"Toby. Toby Turner," he gave a fake sneeze and added, "Sorry. I'm allergic to alliteration."

Louise laughed, "You're odd, you know that?"

He flashed a white-toothed grin at her, some of his old spark shining through, "I know it more than most people."

But the spark vanished as soon as it had come. With a huge wave of guilt, he realized what he had forgotten. "Gryphzor!" he said out loud, and attempted to sit up again, only

to be pushed back by Louise, who shushed him, before absently putting her hand back over his.

"Who's Gryphzor?" she asked, attempting to make Toby calm again.

"M-my dog." He answered numbly, hoping the Gryphon was alright. He had food when Toby left, but despite his size, Gryphon could eat for America.

"Oh," she responded, a little surprised, "Well don't worry. I think they're going to release you today, considering you woke up. Just a few more hours and you'll see Gryphzor again."

Relief spread through his body as she said these words, loosening the tight knot in his stomach. He turned his head to her, serious for once in his life. "Thanks, by the way."

"For what?" she asked absently, searching for something on the cabinet beside her.

"For saving my life."

She stopped at that and looked at him, "Well, anyone would've done the same. And I wasn't going to just leave you there in a totalled car. Besides," She flashed a mischievous smile at him, "You owe me one now."

"Oh, I can take you up on that gurl." He said loudly, wiggling his eyebrows. He tried to sit up again, this time being helped by the girl, who propped him up on God knows how many pillows.

With a pang, his mind went back to vlogging and he asked the Louise: "Where'd they put my stuff?"

In answer, she pointed to a corner. On another desk, his clothes, keys and phone were sat. It was strange how he could land himself in a car crash, get knocked out for a day, and yet his phone was still in pristine condition.

Toby: 1

Laws Of Physics: 0

Take that, science!

"Pass my phone, please, gurl."

She giggled again, before striding across the room and bringing back his phone. He gladly took it and immediately put it on record, facing the IV. Louise looked at him like he was insane - why exactly was he recording an IV...?

"AUDIENCE? WHA-?" He began loudly, facing the phone back on to his face. Louise nearly fell out of her chair.

"What are you doing staring at my IV drip?" He continued, oblivious to the fact he'd nearly given her a heart attack, "You of all people should know its rude to st- INTRO OF DARKNESS THEN REDNESS THEN WHITENESS. "

Louise really did think this might be an after affect of the concussion, but as a trainee nurse, she knew that it was best to leave the patients to do as they please; within reason, of course. She didn't want another scenario like Miss Cander. They'd only recently unblocked the toilets...

"Shush, Audience!" Toby began again in a dramatic whisper, pressing his finger to his lips; Louise raised an eyebrow, "Your noises make my brain hurt!"-he pointed to his head, which was still thickly wrapped in gauze- "Now, introductions! This is Loubuscus!" to her surprise, he directed the camera phone at her for a second, "Without her, my mother would be planning my funeral!" He stared upwards for a moment, as though he were in deep thought, "Imagine that; mom away from Farmville for more than a day! Ehh, she probably just throw me in a cardboard box on the side of the highway"- he let out a laugh-"But anyways… what was I talking about? OH YEAH. I may have gotten in to an itsy bitsy car crash. Buscus was never a good driver- BUT YEAH. Now you know! I'm not dead! Well, the internet version of dead. Why is there always an internet version of something? Internet deaths, internet cafes –SPONSOR- internet… something else… You know what I mean, audience!" he paused, taking a breath. Not surprising really, considering he had just ranted his way through what could've been a ten minute conversation.

"Yeahh… I'm very tired. I've been asleep SINCE YESTERDAY. How's that for logic? And-"

But Toby was cut short as the doctor from earlier popped his head around the corner. "Sir, I'm sorry, but you need to keep it down! There are other patients here!"

Toby stage whispered an over exaggerated "SORRY!" causing the doctor to face-palm, before walking out of the room. Louise could've sworn he had mumbled something about 'ungrateful patients', but she was inwardly laughing too much to care.

"Shhh, audience!" the man began again, facing his phone, "Apparently, I'M the one causing distress around here. Who would've thought, huh? Lil' innocent Tobuscus." He paused for a second, before finally adding, "And this is probably one of the most shortest blogs I've ever made! Bless your face; if you sneezed in this video, bless you! Peace off! Ba da do do do do do do do subscribe! OUTRO OF DARKNESS THEN REDNESS THEN WHITENESS THEN… HOSPITAL-NESS AND LOUBUSCUS-NESS AND… BOOP!"

He made a motion as though a fly was buzzing around his head, making his head disappear from the shot. He clicked a button on the phone and it stopped recording. Putting the phone back down beside him, he stretched his arms out, giving a fake yawn as well.

After a moment of silence, the girl piped up. "What on earth was that about?"

He shrugged, flashing another brilliant smile, "It was about me crashing, you saving my life and something about internet cafes-I can't really remember. I ramble a lot in my vlogs."

Louise had just been about to comment, when Toby really did yawn; she could tell easily. Hastily she stood up, dropping his hand in the motion and said quietly, "I had better leave now, you look as though you could use some rest."

For a fraction of a second, a look of sadness flickered across his face, almost immediately being replaced a sly smile.

"You know," he began, straightening himself up on his pillows again, "I could really use help getting to my house. Should a patient like me have to walk home?"

He added the question playfully, pouting like a school child. No-one could resist.

"I'll come back in a few hours then, o weak patient of mine." She said, sarcsm dripping in her vocals as she gave him a courtsey.

Once again, she turned, walking towards the door, flashing another smile at him over her shoulder. Her long hair swished as she exited and faintly, Toby could hear her call "You owe me double now!"

The man let out a genuine laugh, before finally letting sleep overwhelm him.

**Opinions? Read and Review please**!


	3. Depth Perception?

**Chapter 2**

"Make sure you keep your eyes on the road. Don't wanna be crashing in to anything!"

Louise just rolled her eyes at him. Like he should be telling her that. He was the one who still had gauze wrapped around his head… a little too tightly by the sound of things.

That didn't seem to dampen his spirits though; if anything, it had increased them. He had pretty much bounced from the hospital to her car, babbling about random things, pointing out lighting fixtures and laughing like a crazy person. Yeah, sounds weird, doesn't it?

The car ignited and they drove off (the girls' eyes firmly planted on the road) whilst Toby continued to babble.

"Hey Toby?"

"Gurl?"

"Are you ever quiet?"

"Nope."

She found herself smiling as he said that. She was growing to love his odd personality more and more.

Speaking of odd...

"Oh yeah," she remembered, gaining his attention once again, "Why did you call me 'Loubuscus'?"

In her mirror, she saw a smile flash across his face. A boyish, mischievous smirk. Somewhere in the back of her mind, a voice squealed in delight, and she found herself blushing.

"I'm guessing you don't know who I am?"

"I'm guessing I don't…?"

"I'm sorta… a celebrity. On Youtube." He said, before he leant backwards in his seat, a fake cocky look crossing his features, "I've been recognised in the streets of L.A countless times. Because of my fame."

"Of course… How did I not know?" she remarked sarcastically; he sent a pouty glare at her in the rearview mirror, "But that still doesn't explain why you called me 'Loubuscus'."

"Oh, well my username is Tobuscus."

The fair haired girl laughed, "Tobuscus? What made you think of that?"

"Something from high school. Nicknames!" He smiled brightly, flashing his white teeth.

With a pang, she noticed that she had no idea where she was driving to. She looked at him in the mirror wit her big grey eyes and asked "Where do you live anyways? I have a GPS I could use…"

After pulling over, she handed him the GPS, where he punched in his address (after he made her promise she wouldn't tell anyone) and handed it back to her. She set it up and they were up and running in a few minutes. As they drove, she became more familiar with the neighbourhood, and, with a jolt, realized she didn't live very far from here.

As it so happened, when they finally arrived at Toby's house, she only lived a couple of blocks away. Not really knowing why this brightened her up considerably, she got out of the car and followed Toby up to his front door. It unlocked with a click and before she knew what was happening, the man had disappeared from sight. She looked down and saw him crouching beside a small dog, picking him up and letting him lick his face.

"Gryphzor! Did you throw parties whilst I was gone? I bet you did!" he exclaimed. Louise laughed, "TO THE KITCHEN. FOR SOME FOOD."

Toby practically sprinted off, Gryphon following closely. Louise hovered for a bit, unsure whether or not to go in; that is, until she heard his voice from somewhere ask raucously "What you doin' out there gurl? Come on in!"

Tentatively, she stepped in and closed the door behind her, trying not to make too much noise. She had never been one to have too much confidence. In fact, she barely had any. Only on the ward was she a prepared and ready nurse. Everywhere else, she was just plain, shy Louise. It was who she was, who she had been taught to be; seen and not heard.

Suddenly, Toby's head appeared around a doorframe "Welcome to FortBuscus! Take a seat – chair – table – whatever. I'll be out in a second!"

Trying to take as little space as possible, she sat on the edge of the sofa and let her eyes stray. All around there were works of art, most of which displaying the name TOBUSCUS in colourful lettering. Over in the opposite wall she saw one of the strangest posters ever. It was divided in to three horizontal sections, and from top to bottom it said 'POSTER OF DARKNESS THEN REDNESSS THEN WHITENESS', with a small note at the bottom, saying 'Bless your face. If you sneezed whilst reading this poster, bless you. Peace off.'

After looking at this, she finally took it in that Toby wasn't lying when he had said he had fans; and by the looks of all this art, devoted ones. She'd have to look him up on the internet when she got home.

Well, that wasn't a weird thought…

Just as she had begun to get up and examine things more closely, Toby seemed to appear out of nowhere. Her butt immediately connected to the chair again. Oblivious to this little snatch of movement, the man once again began to blabber. It seemed it was his forte, though Louise wasn't complaining.

Her attention was drawn away from the art back to him as he began to talk, however - he was walking around... oddly. Like he was being particularly careful not to bump in to anything. She didn't know why she hadn't already seen it.

"Toby," she began, a quizzical look on her face, "can you see alright?"

He instantaneously stopped his blabbering and shrugged. "Yeah, of course I can. Why couldn't I?"

Ironically, as he said this, he promptly turned and faceplanted in to the kitchen doorframe.

Quickly, the trainee nurse leapt over to him and grabbed his arm, steadying his wavering feet. "Well, you obviously can't see very well. Its probably your depth perception, but I'll have to check," she lead him over to the couch and told him firmly he was to sit still there whilst she got the medical kit from her car; in response, he did another 'pouty face', which Louise just rolled her grey eyes at.

Within seconds, she was back again, ophthalmoscope in hand. It wasn't the usual way of testing depth perception, but it was all she had right now. She sat next to him on the sofa and told him to look at her. He cast her an odd look. "Oh, it's only a light, silly," she said jokingly. She leant forward and shined it in his eyes. His pupils dilated - the right one more than the left. She let out a sigh and switched the ophthalmoscope off.

"Yeah, your depth perception is off, Toby," she said, stowing the medical instrument back in the bag, "It's just an after effect of the crash. It should clear up on its own in a few days, if not less."

"So wait; I can't see anything properly?" he asked, genuinely confused, "But it looks like I can!"

Louise had to use a lot of self-restraint to keep from face-palming. "Its not you sight that's affected, it's your depth perception. It means you can't tell how far away things are. Here, I'll show you,"

She grabbed a remote control from the table and held it in her outstretched hand. "Grab it."

For once, he was looking at her as if she were insane. He eyed her, wondering if she was playing some sort of trick, before he tentatively made a grab for it.

His hand missed by inches.

Eyebrows knitted together as he tried again, missing if not by more inches. He couldn't refrain from laughing.

"This," he said, making another grab for it, "Is weird!"

Finally, his hand slapped the remote, causing it to fall to the floor with a clatter. For a few split seconds, his hand rested in her own, before she abruptly snatched it away and hastily stood up. Her neck suddenly felt very warm, a tingle that shivered down her spine.

"Uh, w-well I'll come round to check on you over the next few days," she stuttered, trying to regain her composure, "You should try to avoid going outside until then too, unless you really have to. And absolutely no driving."

She didn't wait for his reply, and instead rushed to the door as quick as she could without running. Her hand was just on the door handle when Toby's voice drifted from behind her.

"Thanks, Louise."

Her hand froze on the door handle as she heard the meaning in these two words ring clear and true. Without turning around, she said quietly "You're welcome."

And with that, she opened the door and left, giving the man one last fleeting glance. He held a look of slight concern, but the shadow of a smirk was on his features. And as she thought of this as she drove home, she couldn't help but smile.

**This was pretty much a filler. I still gotta get this story up and running. Oh, and next chap, there's gonna be a time lapse. It'll explain itself. ^^**


	4. He's Back And She's Gone

**Hi guys! Hope you enjoy this next instalment of Gratitude! :D**

**Disclaimer: Anything copyrighted in this fic, I do not own. And sadly, I don't own Tobuscus either :[ **

**Chapter 3 **

_Blood._

**_Everywhere._**

Shadows shot from the very darkness itself; a single, shattering scream rang out through the cold air, breaking the eerie silence that had settled like a suffocating velvet blanket. It was choking her relentlessly in its misleading comfort.

grey orbs snapped open, and with a horrifying jolt, she heard that voice. Rough, low, and threatening. It was him.

"Come here, my sweet; daddy won't hurt you."

Lights blared for a second, before dimming. A small living room seemed to bloom in to view around her. The curtains were drawn and the room was dark. A winged armchair sat in the corner, and upon it was a man. Tall and mean looking. His eyes glared out from underneath a dark mop of hair. grey eyes. Her eyes.

Sinisterly, the man patted his knee, beckoning with a finger. "Come now, don't you want to give your old man a hug?"

Though her mind screamed at her to leave, to run and never look back, some sort of force pulled her closer, feet dragging across the ground. A whimper escaped her lips as she stared, wide eyed up at his face. The face that haunted her, even in the daylight when she was free of dreams. In every dark thought, in every doubt, he would be there, whispering in to the depths of her mind.

You can't do it Louise... You'll fail, proving just how worthless you are...

Abruptly, he stood, towering over her as she cower upon the floor. His face, so sweet and innocent before had twisted in to a look of pure rage. The ground seemed to shake as he raised his hand and grabbed her by the hair. Slowly, agonisingly, he pulled her up, higher and higher until her feet couldn't touch the ground. His nose came within an inch of her own.

And, in a calm, sick voice, he whispered "Now honey, you'll never tell our little secret, will you?"

With that, his free hand rose, holding the suspense until coming down full force. Closer and closer it came. The girl let out a terror-filled scream, and, just as it was to hit her face, she sprang up, wide awake and entangled in her own duvet.

Only after a few seconds did she realise she was still screaming. Her mouth closed, but her breaths came in short gasps. Her thickly lashed eyes were wide with fright and tears were streaming down her face.

It took a good five minutes before Louise's breathing went back to normal again, but that didn't stop the tears from flowing. They fell, hot from her face on to her bed sheets, which were wrapped around her form from where she had been moving so much. She hadn't dreamt that dream in months… why now?

But she knew why; she just didn't want to admit it to herself.

Wiping her puffy eyes dry, she lay back in bed and silently prayed to never have that dream again.

"This is your last set of bandages, Toby. After this, you're considered cured!"

"Physically or mentally?"

"Physically. I doubt you could ever be cured in the head."

Toby laughed as he sat on one of his kitchen chairs. Louise tended over him, unwrapping the last of the gauze on his head. A radio played softly in the background and the sun shone through the kitchen window, bringing with it the immense humidity caused by the sudden heat wave that had hit yesterday.

It had been three weeks since the accident, and (thankfully) Toby's eyesight had cleared up in a jiffy. During that time, the girl had wandered over to YouTube and completely cracked up laughing at virtually all of his videos (especially the How To Get Women video). She had even found the vlog that had her in it, and found so many comments saying how jealous they were of her, or how worried they were about Toby. He really was a celebrity, which was a strange thought, in Louise's opinion anyway.

Snippets of music and song slipped in to the girl's mind every now and again, emitting from the radio, causing her to hum along with most of the tunes she heard as she continued getting rid of the bandages on his head.

But then it went to a newsbreak, and the presenter's voice blared clear as day through the kitchen.

_"-All the hottest hits here on KKBT FM. Now, it's Jess with the news. We'll be back after this short message." _

_"-Thanks Andy. _

_Lancaster was thrown in to disarray today, as news spread of convict, Mason Walker, escaping from California State Prison-"_

Instantly, she stopped unwrapping the gauze, and daringly listened to the rest of the report, hoping with every ounce of her being it wasn't what she thought it was.

_"-considered dangerous, it is highly advised that you do not approach him. Check our website for his appearance and description. _

_Mason was put in to prison approximately eleven years ago (sentenced for life), following the murder of his wife (Evangeline Walker) and sexual abuse of his daughter, Louise Walker-"_

Her frantically beating heart leapt in to her throat as a stray hand went over her chest, remembering the scars. The scars she had kept hidden for so long.

He had escaped. And he was going to come for her. She knew it. Why else would he escape?

It seemed Louise's sudden silence had not gone unnoticed. Taking off the last of the bandages on his own, Toby turned around and stood, looking at the girl with confusion. What was with the sudden discomfort?

"Louise…? Are you alright?"

Clearly, he hadn't been paying the slightest bit of attention to the radio. And clearly, Louise wasn't paying the slightest bit of attention to him right now.

It seemed time had stopped - the world had ceased spinning as the reality of what she had heard hit her, and it was taking all of her will power not to be sick. Memories of everything he had done- everything he had caused and made wrong in her life came back to her. It was horrifyingly overwhelming. She thought she was safe- happy, even, when he had been taken away. Now that safe security and ignorance had been ripped away from her; never before had she felt so weak and defenceless.

Finally, she came to her senses as she realised someone was shaking her shoulder. She jumped and looked at Toby, as though he had just appeared out of nowhere. He looked at her with an odd intensity in his hazel-green eyes, searching her face for any sign of what could be wrong. The usual glint of hilarity didn't exist. Louise didn't like that.

"N-nothing," she stuttered, "J-just, uh, zoned out for a second, that's all."

She noted the disbelieving look on his face and distracted herself by gathering up the gauze and shoving it in the nearby bin, before washing her hands. It was almost like she could feel his gaze on her back, and she tried her hardest not to notice, but that failed miserably.

"Toby, I'm fine, I swear!" she said loudly, turning around and holding up her hands to show she wasn't crossing her fingers. He still looked at her strangely, but decided to lay off the subject. She'd fess up… eventually.

"Anyway," she began, trying to steer the conversation far away from her wellbeing, "shouldn't you be showing everyone your battle scars?"

"What?"

She smiled and walked over to him, before dragging him to the nearest mirror. She pointed to the reflection. A confused Toby stared back, before realization seemed to dawn on his face.

Though most of it was covered by his hair, a healed scar ran all the way down from the left side of his hairline ending just above his left eyebrow. It was a pale pink flesh colour, left there by a particularly nasty piece of glass from the car windshield.

His hand reached up and traced it. A moment of silence passed, and Louise began to worry that he wouldn't react well, when he brightly exclaimed "I'm Harry Potter!"

The fair haired girl erupted in to a fit of giggles; this man just never ceased to amaze her.

"It should heal properly over the next few months, though there'll always be a faint line there no matter what you do with it.

She left him staring avidly at the mirror, walking back in to the kitchen to grab her handbag. As soon as she turned away, the smile fell from her face; when she left this house, she'd have to deal with her 'family' problems. This fact, plus Toby just made her want to stay more. But she knew she couldn't.

She grabbed a pen a spare bit of paper from her back and scrawled her phone number on to it, before walking back to Toby, who was still examining his 'souvenir' from his accident.

"Well, Harry Potter, what will it take to stop you checking out your scar in the Mirror of Erised?"

He turned, the glint in his eyes once again. She hoped it stayed there too. "Oh," he began to answer, staring innocently at the ceiling, "Only you."

In spite of herself, she felt a blush blossoming across her cheeks. Hastily, she grabbed his hand and put the note in it. "If you need anything, or think that something's off, just call. I'll come and check up on you."

"I'd appreciate it." He smirked, eyes crinkled. There was that damn look again!

And again with the blush!

"Yes - well, I guess this would be goodbye."

His eyes seem to cloud a little – he knew that nothing would be wrong with him in the future. There'd be no reason to see her again. And to call her for any other reason than a medical one would surely get her in trouble...

He couldn't help but feel attached to her – she had saved his life. But it was more than that… he just didn't quite realize it yet.

"Yeah…" he began, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly, "I guess it is."

They looked at each other for a few seconds, before Toby decided to shatter the awkwardness and walk her to the door.

She stood on the step, facing Toby, emotions flitting across her face, the most prominent being disappointment. She'd most likely never see him again.

"Thanks, then. For everything."

"Happy to help."

She gave a sad smile, before turning around and walking down the front path. Toby stared after her, knowing he had just let something very important go. But his chance was gone.

He'd never see her grey eyes again.


	5. Scalding Coffee And Piano Lessons

**It may seem like a slow chapter, but I assure you its building up to certain things! :D Thank you to all my reveiwers! Hopefully, you'll enjoy the next instalment :3 **

**Disclaimer: Anything copyrighted in this fic, I do not own. And sadly, I don't own Tobuscus either :[ **

**Chapter 4**

Over the next week, it was safe to say that FortBuscus was… quiet.

Even through the run up to Christmas, Toby would upload at least _some_ videos; but ever since Louise had left, the usual flood of them that came from Toby's channels were thinned to about two per day; his gameplay commentaries were a rare occurrence and his vlogs didn't exist. Even the videos that were put up lacked their usual spark.

It wasn't that he was sad or depressed or anything like that; it was just he was so… disappointed. He knew that he had missed out on something – something big. He had had a chance, but he didn't take it when he could've; he just let it slip by. And that's what disappointed him the most.

So, taking a break from the garbage on T.V, he put his sneakers on and left his house, deciding that taking a walk would be best to release some energy. Soon, he found that he was wondering further and further in to the main shopping centre. But he really didn't care; he was just walking.

Louise had barricaded herself in her house since she had got back in it after leaving Toby behind. Sure, he had her phone number, but if her peers were to find out she had had a conversation with a so-called patient about something non-mediacal, it would be deemed highly unprofessional. Her chances of passing her medical course would plummet. So she had immediately thrown that idea out of the window.

But she wasn't thinking about that now. She was too busy concentrating on the escaped convict. He was the reason she had lost all contact with the outside world, trying to protect herself from the impending doom that was her father.

She had visibly been shaking when she arrived home, sat on the couch and mulled everything over in her head. Her hands had twisted and she had felt tears fall again, but not any more. She had to be brave; it was for her benefit, after all.

But was this being brave? Locking herself up in her own house, just so she wouldn't have to face the outside world?

_No,_ a small voice in her mind had answered,_ it's cowardly._

This thought alone had driven her to clean herself up and tentatively step in to the outside world once again.

Ensuring that her door was firmly locked behind her, she pocketed her keys and started off down the drive. She flitted around the streets trying to look and feel confident, but miserably failing in the process; her heart couldn't forcibly feel emotions that did not exist.

This was probably the reason why she couldn't get that damned man out of her head…

_You only knew him for a few weeks! _

_**But she knew he was special, in some way…**_

_It's called a silly crush! Get over it!_

Louise had been scolding herself like this in the days that had passed, as well as thinking about Mason. She was confused. Crushes were not unfamiliar to her, but this… hadn't been a crush. It felt different, somehow… she just didn't know why.

And that mischievous smirk of his… it just wouldn't leave her retinas!

In an attempt to calm her muddled mind, she took a turn in to the nearest coffee shop that she could see, before walking up to the counter and ordering a cappuccino. After getting said drink, she took up a table and sat, eyes closed and breathing deeply. She just wanted calm; peace, even. Hopefully her father would be caught soon and she'd be put at ease.

But knowing her father, it wasn't very likely.

She shuddered at the thought.

Luckily, a new opportunity arose to distract her from these daunting thoughts. Though, it didn't seem like it at first, it was a very welcomed distraction too.

Still in a muddled daze, she stood up, zombie-like, ready to leave the shop when something scalding spilled down the front of her. She hissed in pain and she jumped back, tripping over the leg of her vacated chair in the process. Her eyes automatically shut tight and braced for the impact of the wooden floor-

But it never came. Instead, she felt two strong arms catch her around the waist and hold her there, before a shocked, familiar voice reached her ears.

"Louise?"

Her grey eyes snapped open and Toby's ecstatic face met her own, inches away. Her face lit up. "Toby?"

They stared at each other for a few seconds, before Louise realised he was still holding her. Awkwardly, she stood up blushing and unlatched Toby's hands from her waist. His eyes darted around nervously, before he decided to speak again.

"Are, um, you ok?" he asked with concern in his voice, "I just spilt loads of coffee on you."

"Oh really? I didn't notice…"

He sent her a playful glare, eyebrow raised. It was impossible not to admire her ability to throw comebacks so easily.

She looked as though she were about to say something else, but she was cut off by the amount of silence that had settled in the café. People were staring at the odd pair- and, admittedly, the scene that had just happened was a justified cause for attention.

Louise went bright red, whilst Toby just waved and smiled, as though he were on a stage. Trying to get the staring to stop, she ducked out of sight and cleaned the coffee up as quickly as possible, before grabbing Toby by the wrist and dragging him out of the coffee shop and down the high-street at full speed. He nearly tripped keeping up with her.

"Slow down, girl! You're gonna rip my arm off!"

Finally, she slowed and turned to Toby, silent laughter emitting from her in gasps. "I can't take you anywhere, can I?"

He grinned, as he replied, "No, no you can't."

Her chest heaved with laboured breaths, both from running and laughing at the same time. Now that the hilarity was beginning to wear off, though, the sore ache where the boiling coffee had spilled seemed to reach its most painful point. Every gasp she took, she would wince.

"Geez, sorry about that Lou," Toby apologized quietly, putting a comforting hand on her shoulder, "I didn't mean to-"

"It's fine, it's fine," she interrupted, waving him off with a free hand, "It'll be alright tomorrow. I'll put some ointment or something and it'll clear up."

His eyebrows were still arched in concern, and he would've gone on if Louise hadn't given him a glare that clearly said 'Leave it'. Unwillingly, the man obliged. It seemed this girl didn't like to be taken care of. He wondered why that was…

The pair stood in silence for a few moments, cars rushing past them and creating a racket, before Louise attempted a spark at conversation.

"Well, considering you just lost your coffee on me," she said, looking down at her neck, "Why don't you, uh, I don't know… come round to my house for some? I only live a couple blocks away."

He stared at her for a couple of seconds, registering what she had said, before a badly hidden smile spread across his face. He waved absently with a hand and said "Lead the way."

They walked side-by-side, talking about pretty much anything that crossed their minds, whilst they thought of the stroke of luck that had decided to bring them together again. Louise couldn't keep the smile off her face. Her worries didn't exist when she was with him. His happiness was enough to light up everyone in the room. A brilliant gift if ever there was one.

Finally, they reached her front garden. She un-looped her arm, which she had unknowingly put around Toby's, and fished out her key, before unlocking the door. She welcomed him in, before immediately remembering that the living room was a mess.

She ran in to the first door she came across in the hall, leaving a confused YouTuber in her wake. Approximately one point five minutes later she emerged looking slightly roughed up.

"You can come in now," she said wearily. Toby resisted the urge to laugh. It was almost like a slapstick moment, in an odd way. He accomodated and went in.

It was a nice living room; big enough to be spacious, but small enough to be cosy. The windows were thrown open and the curtains were wide, letting the sun trickle in and land on anything in sight. Tinsel was entwined along the curtain rail, a small Christmas tree sat in an empty corner by the TV Over by the window, he noticed, was a piano. Small and ebony coloured, it looked quite old and cheap; but it was piano nonetheless.

Forgetting completely the original reason he was here, he jumped over to the stool and sat beside the musical instrument, waiting for Louise to come back in.

When she appeared again, it looked like she had dragged a brush through her hair and put her coat away (why she had been wearing one in this weather, he didn't know). She was wearing a long sleeved, grey V-neck, with black jeans covering her long legs. Again, he couldn't help but wonder why she was so intent on covering up in weather like this; was she insecure about herself? Because in his opinion, she could probably rock a swimsuit any day of the week she wanted…

He blinked in surprise at his own thoughts. He'd never thought that about anyone; he tried not to. Sure, he done the whole 'hothothothot' thing, but he never actually envisioned someone like that before.

Thankfully, he was brought out of his confused stupor by Louise. Sitting right next to him on the chair.

"What are you doing staring at this old thing?"

"Wondering if you play piano." He half lied.

He saw her eyes dim a little, as though she were remembering something she didn't want to remember. "It was a gift when I was little," she answered, "I never…. got the chance to play it. I've never learned either, what with the medical course and everything…"

"Well," Toby said brightly, hoping to cheer the girl up, "We'll just have to change that, won't we?"

With practiced hands, he opened up the lid of the piano and immediately began to play a tune. After a couple of cords, Louise instantly recognised it as the piano backing from Embrace's Nature's Law. Coincidentally, one of her favourite songs.

"Show off…" she mumbled, but there was a smile on her face. He looked up with a smug look on his face. She punched him in the arm.

"I thought this was a 'teach Louise how to play' lesson, not a 'look how much Toby can show off' lesson."

"Okay okay – I'll teach you." He gave in, holding his hands up in a surrendering gesture. "What tune did you want to learn?"

"The one you were just playing."

"What, Nature's Law? But that's a difficult one. Maybe you should start with something easier."

She looked back up at him with a fire in her eyes. "I like a challenge."

Toby visibly gulped. "Okay then."

She gasped when he grabbed her hands; she hadn't been expecting it at all. Toby looked at her oddly, "What's wrong?"

She stared back, "Nothing," she replied, smiling, "Nothing at all."

"Right then," he carried on, placing her two hands on opposite sides of the piano. He spread her fingers accordingly until they were in the right place.

"On all pianos, the starting note from the left side is always C," he said, reaching over and tapping said note, "From there on it goes in the alphabet, ending at G,"-he tapped that note- "Then it starts from A again. So it goes -C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C, D, E, F, G. Don't ask me why it starts on C, 'cause I don't know."

She nodded, taking everything in and trying to remember it. She then gestured to the black keys, "What are they for, then?"

"Those are sharp keys. They're pretty much normal keys that accompany the white key next to it. Like this one is B sharp 'cause it's next to the regular B."

"Well, what's the point of having them then?"

"They sound different. That's why they're B sharps instead of regular B's."

"This is confusing."

"I warned you."

"Oh, this doesn't mean I won't carry on."

"I didn't say it wasn't."

They glared at each other for a few seconds, before bursting out laughing. Through the laughs, Toby managed to say, "You're great, you know that?"

Her laughter immediately stopped. She stuttered for a few seconds, before Toby (who hadn't noticed anything) said "Right. We had better get going then."

_Saved by the bell,_ Louise thought thankfully.

"For Nature's Law, you have to start on this cord…"

_This is going to be a long lesson,_ the fair haired girl thought to herself.

_But I wouldn't have it with anyone else._

**I bet you hate me for cutting it off there, don't you? D **

**But don't worry; the piano lesson continues next chappie! I just thought I had better cut it off there, considering it's over 2,000 words long XD**


	6. Don't Let Go Of Something Good

**Hey guys! I know what you're thinking ****–**** 'Omg two updates in one day!'**

**I know right? I'm surprised myself! Anyways, hope you enjoy the next chappie! :D**

**Disclaimer: Anything copyrighted, I don't own. Neither do I own Toby Turner, no matter how much I want to.**

**Chapter 5**

Laughter emitted from Louise's living room over the hours that passed as she attempted to learn how to play the piano. So many mistakes were made it was unbelievable. But they were getting there.

"No, it's the cord then the sharp note, not the other way around. Here-" Toby grabbed the girls' hands (not for the first time that evening either) and placed them below his own, causing them to mimic the movement of his own hands. The second bar of Nature's Law echoed around the living room. Louise grumbled in frustration. This was a lot more difficult than it looked!

"Ugh, how d'you do it Toby? It's impossible!"

"No it's not. You just need practice. An hour ago you thought that the first bar was impossible, but you played it… eventually."

She resisted the urge to punch him again. He sent her a playful glare, as if daring her to retort. She just rolled her eyes at him, causing him to laugh.

"Oh come on, you love me really."

"Oh, that'll be the day."

She saw a glimmer of something pass through his green eyes as she said that, though it went by too quick for her to fully analyse it. His laughing died away and he turned to the piano again.

"Ok, so like I said, it's the cord then the – ow!"

As he had begun to play, the old piano lid had slammed shut, trapping his fingers in the process. He pulled them out and Louise saw that they were red raw – one of them was bleeding. "Ahhh, my luck huh?"

"Here, let me have a look." Louise said, taking up his bleeding hand in her own. He looked at her strangely. "What? Fingers have been broken playing the piano before now. I once knew a guy who broke all four because he had a grand piano lid slam down on them. Not nice."

She examined it with a trained eye and immediately concluded it was just a cut. Probably from the rough edge of chipboard on the piano lid.

"It's just a cut. No broken fingers, lucky for you." She concluded, looking up at him. She was still jealous about how he was so much taller than herself. She had always been tall, but he was taller.

He clenched his free hand in pain. It was still red raw, but at least it wasn't bleeding like the hand she still held in her own.

He looked down at his other hand and put on a pouty face, before saying in a childish voice, "Kiss it better."

For a moment she was taken aback and blinked at him in confusion, before a voice in the back of her mind just said Eh, why not?

Toby hadn't actually been expecting her to do that. He'd been expecting her to laugh and roll her eyes at him or something, not actually comply. But when she kissed the cut, a very odd thing happened.

His hand moved of its own accord to cup her face. She looked up, surprise evident on her features, but she didn't pull away. Slowly, his head leant down, closer and closer. Her eyes half closed over her grey orbs that he found so captivating. Her lips were inches from her own, her small hands were slowly snaking their way around his neck-

BRRRRIIIINNNNNNNGGG.

The pair instantly snapped apart as the phone rang, echoing around the house in its annoying tone. Louise jumped up and ran to it, finally snapping out of the stupor that she seemed to have slipped in to. Luckily for her, the phone was pretty much on the other side of the house, so she had a good excuse to be gone for a while.

She finally reached the landline and picked it up, thanking whoever had decided to call.

"Hello?" she answered, somewhat shakily.

"Louise! It's about time you picked up the phone! I haven't heard from you in a week!"

"Sarah?"

"No, the Boogeyman. Of course it's me! Why haven't you answered any calls?"

"Oh, um, well,"- she glanced in the direction where Toby was undoubtedly still sat, and felt a pang of some foreign emotion, "I have stuff going on, I guess…"

"Oh yeah, I heard. Mason escaped, didn't he?"

"Yeah…"

"So how about I come over? We could-"

"NO!" Louise yelled down the phone. If Sarah knew she was here with someone of the opposite sex, she'd go nuts. God knows what she'd do if she knew they'd almost kissed. Explode, probably.

"Whoa, no need to yell! If you don't want my company you just have-" there was a dramatic gasp from the end of the line, and Sarah continued in a rush, "-There's someone else there isn't there? Oh my God, who is it? Tell me! Is it Jeff? I told you he's been eyeing you up since you moved in next door-"

"N-no, there's no-one here! Why would there be?"

"Geez, even over the phone you can't tell a lie to save your life. So go on, tell me who it is!"

"He's my, uh, piano teacher-" Louise improvised.

"HE? OH MY GOD WHAT'S HIS NAME?"

Louise visibly pulled the phone away from her ear. That girl could yell when she wanted to.

Sighing, she knew it would be no use to lie any more and fessed up.

"Toby."

"Toby who?"

"Toby Turner."

"…"

"Sarah? You still with me?"

"Are you trying to say _the _Toby Turner is at your house right now?"

"The? What do you mean by that?"

"FREAKIN' TOBUSCUS. THAT'S WHAT."

"Keep your voice down!" she whispered angrily in to the phone, "Yes, it's Tobuscus. I didn't realise you knew who he was-"

"I talk to you about him almost every time we meet! I can't believe this! My own best friend has Tobuscus at her house and SHE DIDN'T EVEN TELL ME? WHAT ARE YOU GUYS EVEN DOING?"

"Playing piano, I already told you-"

"Oh, is that a metaphor for something else?"

Louise visibly went red. "No it's not!"

"What's that I hear? Deniaaaaal…"

"Sarah, if you don't shut up I will hang up on you right now."

"Yes alright alright. But next time you have a YouTube celebrity at your house, tell me."

"Well, I had better go-"

"-To enjoy 'playing piano'."

"Ugh, you're impossible!"

With that, Louise hung up, but not quick enough not to hear her friends' mad cackling coming from the other end of the line.

Silence rang in the air, and Louise began to regret hanging up so quickly. Now she'd have to face Toby again. And after that fiasco, that was going to be tough.

It's not that she didn't like him –love him even – but ever since her father… Well, let's just say she wasn't very trusting of the opposite sex. She had even grown distrusting of her own family who were men. It was a mental issue she'd never be able to crack.

Taking a deep breath, she walked back to the hallway which lead to the living room, and found to her utter surprise that Toby was sticking his head out of the room, wondering where she had gone.

He opened his mouth, about to speak, but Louise beat him to it.

"You had better go. It's seven o'clock already." Her voice bore no emotion, but it broke her heart when she saw the dejected look on his face. Grudgingly, he threw on his coat and walked to the door. His head was hung slightly, but out of shame or sadness she didn't know.

The night air stung her face as the front door opened. The tall man stepped down her garden path, but before he left her garden, he sent one last look in her direction. It was a morose look, and it didn't belong on his face. It tore her heart to shreds to see it, and it took all her willpower not to run out and hug him. But she couldn't do that. She'd opened up her heart too much already.

Finally, he turned and left, walking up the street with his hands in his pockets. With one last, guilty glance, she shut the door.

She slid down the door and sat down right behind it on the doormat and buried her head in her knees, curled up like a small child. She was such an idiot! How could she let him of all people out of her grasp? How? Why?

And now was as good a time as any to blame her father. He had done this. Made her so insecure she couldn't even open up to a nice guy like Toby. Made her distrust anyone who was male. Made her despise her own family. It was all. His. Fault. Tears of frustration flowed down her face in warm streaks as she thought these things.

But her despair was cut short by the doorbell ringing. Sniffling, she stood up, knowing it would be Toby again. She prepared her vocals to tell him to leave, but she was cut short when she opened the door, sentence dying in her throat as she stared at the face that stared down at her.

Mean, roughened from eleven years imprisonment, Mason's face met her own. A sinister smile crept across his face as her mouth dropped open.

"Hello, my sweet," he began in a sick voice, "Would you mind letting your old man in?"

He waited for no answer as he shoved his way through the door, pushing the girl to the floor in the process. She whimpered as her head hit the wall.

Just like in her dream, he grabbed her by the hair and pulled her up, nose to nose with him. "Now you're gonna wish you'd never squealed, missy. And no-one's around to hear you scream."

He kicked the door shut behind him as Louise's panic stricken mind began realise the reality of the situation. Mason was here, a convicted killer, in her house in which he had just trapped her in. There was no way she'd get out of this. She started to hyperventilate. If only she had let Toby stay for a few more minutes. If only –

Wait a second.

That was it. Her only slim chance of living until morning.

Using all the strength she could, she pushed past her father, and screamed as loudly as she could.

"TOBY! HELP ME!"

**Cliffy of doom, MWAHAHAHAHA.**

**Oh, and for those thinking that this story is going to be about ten chaps long, it's not. I have A LOT more planned ;D Hope you enjoyed!**

**R&R please! :3**


	7. Fight And Flight

**Hey guys! Another chapter of Gratitude is here! Yaaay! :D**

**Disclaimer: Anything copyrighted, I don't own. Neither do I own Toby Turner, no matter how much I want to.**

**Chapter 6**

_Wait a second._

_That was it. Her only slim chance of living until morning._

_Using all the strength she could, she pushed past her father, and screamed as loudly as she could._

_"TOBY! HELP ME!"_

He kicked a stray pebble as he walked down the street, trying to release some pent up regret. His hands were still in his pockets and his head was still bowed, partly because of the rain that had begun and partly because of his heavy emotions weighing him down like a lead hat.

How could he be so stupid? He should've never tried that. Anyone could see that she was insecure; it was so obvious! But noooooo, he had to give in to his own wants and needs. How had he been so selfish? She was such a nice young woman too… And now his chances of seeing her again had plummeted. And so much regret, swirling around in the pit of his stomach like some demonic black hole. It made him feel sick. If he hadn't-

His thoughts were then shattered as a piercing cry shot across the night sky. Instantly, his head shot up as he turned and registered what he had just heard. It had sounded like- but no, it couldn't be…

Who else would it be then? Who else knows your name around here and sounds like Louise?

Mentally, he smacked himself. Of course it was Louise…. But why was she calling for help?

Wait a second… why was he just standing here and not doing anything? She needed help!

His eyes widened as he ran, full-pelt back to her house. The rain hit him full force and his hair plastered to his head as it became soaking wet; his feet slipped as he skidded around the street corner and he almost fell flat on his back, but he didn't care. The desperation in Louise's voice meant whatever she needed help with was serious; he needed to get to her as fast as he could.

After what seemed like years, her garden finally came in to view. The bluebells hung innocently, as though there was nothing wrong in the house they surrounded.

The man sprinted up the path and hesitated before knocking – what if he had deluded himself in to thinking she needed him? What if-?

"No, please! Just leave me alone! For once in your life will you please just listen to me?"

Toby froze at the sound of Louise's distraught voice. Another voice, gruff and sickening, replied.

"Now girlie, why would I do that? Did you listen to me when I told you to keep our little secret safe? No you didn't!"

There was another scream as Toby heard the sound of flesh hitting flesh; unless he was much mistaken, whoever that man was had just hit Louise.

And that thought alone made his blood boil. A rare look of rage adorned Toby' face; no-one did that to his girl. Ever.

In a flurry of movement, he wrenched open the door (it hadn't been locked) and slammed it open, just as a flash of lightening zoomed across the sky. It was an image to give anyone goose-bumps. Toby, intensity in his eyes, framed by the doorframe and momentarily illuminated by the light of the sky behind him, soaking wet. He looked formidable, to say the least.

With no fear, he strode in a looked around. Everything had gone oddly quiet. There were no noises or voices. Just eerie silence. "Louise?" he called out to the empty hallway. No answer. "Louise?"

He walked further, turning in to the living room he had left just ten minutes ago. The lights had been turned off and the curtains drawn, so that not even the artificial lamp light from outside could penetrate the darkness. He stepped forward a few more times, trying to see the familiar shape or face of Louise. He called her name the third time, again to no avail.

He had just been about to search the kitchen when a fist landed directly in to his jaw. It sent him careering backwards, over the coffee table and on to the floor. He clutched the side of his face as he stared up in to the tall, shadowy mass that had attacked him. And it looked like it was readying for another punch. Out of instinct, Toby rolled over, narrowly missing the hit that would've knocked him out.

As quickly as he could, he leapt to his feat and clenched his fists, looking around wildly for his attacker. He snapped around as quiet chuckling filled the room.

"You think a pipsqueak like you has a chance against me? Look at you; you're as skinny as a rake."

"Says the person hiding in the shadows," Toby retorted, sounding braver than he felt. The deep chuckling sounded again, and the gruff voice suddenly became much more business like.

"Kid, I'm not gonna let you get in the way of family matters, so you had better leave before you get caught in the crossfire."

_Family matters?_ Toby thought quietly, having no intention of leaving, _What does he mean by that__…__?_

"I'll give you the count of three to get out of here. One…"

Panic rose in Toby's chest like a gargantuan snake. His eyes darted around, looking for an object or weapon – something that could be used as a kind of defence-

"Two…"

His green eyes had grown accustomed to the dark by now - though not enough to see his attacker clearly. In the corner of the room there was a vase. If he could just reach it-

"Last chance kid…"

An overwhelming sense of purpose consumed him, and he daringly leapt for the vase as the gruff voice yelled "Three!"

Mason was sent spiralling to the ground as his prey leapt out of the way. With practiced ease he jumped back up and saw the stranger charging at him with something bulky in his outstretched hands. Before his mind even got in to gear, the china vase had smashed over his head. Broken shards embedded themselves in to his skin, and soon the whole right side of his neck was covered in crimson blood.

"You'll pay for that, you little bastard!"

The speed of a much younger man, Mason reached out and grabbed Toby around his neck, wrestling him to the floor, where the shattered vase was scattered. Toby let out a grunt of frustration and attempted to pry the man's hands off, but they were stuck solid. The edge of his vision began to blur, sounds became muffled. He became distorted; he didn't know where he was, or where Louise was-

At the thought of Louise, her face swam through his minds eye and brought him back to reality with a new determination. He kicked out with his legs and launched the escaped convict off of him. Heavily, he panted for breath as the realisation that he had almost died hit him like a freight train. If he hadn't thought of Louise, he would be up in the sky right now. Without even knowing it, she had saved his life again.

But he had no time to dwell on these thoughts as a swift kick met him in the stomach. He stumbled back a few paces, before he felt another kick coming at him. Before it hit, however, he grabbed it and slung Mason to the floor. He could see his attacker clearly now in the darkness and recognised him as the man who had appeared so frequently on the news since about eight days ago. The convict looked up at him with a terrifying glare with his grey eyes – just like Louise's, Toby thought with a jolt.

"You can't keep her safe forever." Mason threatened, standing back up and wiping his mouth, where blood trickled from it.

"Just watch me." The other retorted, an intense look crossing his face.

"I'll come back. Just you wait."

With that, Mason fled the scene, running out of the house. Not really knowing why, Toby chased him, leaping over the coffee table in the process. It was like a determined, primal instinct to get rid of the threat that had attacked Louise.

For at least five minutes he chased Mason down the streets, before finally losing the slippery criminal in a nearby alleyway. Growling in frustration, he punched the nearest wall he could find, regretting it immediately as a pounding ache resounded in his knuckles. So many angry thoughts were flooding his mind. Of Mason, of the fight, of Louise-

His eyes widened as he remembered he still hadn't found her. For the second time that night, he raced back to her house and ran through the open door, still soaking wet. He ran in to the living room and skidded to a halt, squinting around before realising his eyes hadn't grown accustomed to the darkness yet.

He fumbled across the wall and finally found the light switch. As he flicked it on and a scene of devastation met his eyes.

Shattered china was spread across the wooden floor. Furniture had been moved and the coffee table had been overturned in to the recent struggle, smashing the innocent cups that had been resting on it on to the floor. There was even a picture that had fallen to the ground and smashed. But Toby wasn't paying attention to that.

He was paying attention to the lifeless body upon the sofa cushions.

**Please tell me what you think of the fight scene! Oh, and did you enjoy the chapter in general? I hope you did, 'cause I had fun writing it! :D**


	8. I Can't Lose You

**A double chapter update WHEEEEEEEEEEEEW! Well, I thought I'd reward you guys because you're all SO EPIC FOR WAITING. You see, my baby sister was just born on Monday (2nd of July) and since then I have had UDER BAD FLU. So yeah, not feeling to good right now xD**

**But anyway****…**** 41 FREAKIN' REVIEWS. That's excellent in my book ^^ Thank you all so much :D.**

**Disclaimer: Nope, still don't own Toby****…**** Or anything copyrighted****…**

**Chapter 7**

Toby's heart plummeted in to his stomach as the reality of what he was seeing hit him.

Louise was laid across the sofa in a graceful position, her thick blonde locks fanned around her head, giving the impression of a halo. Her grey eyes were closed and her chest was barely moving. But what was worse was the state of her. At least four deep cuts glistened from her pale skin, the most deadly being the one so close to her neck. And to top it all off, there was a huge bruise blossoming across the side of her face, supposedly where the convict had hit her.

"No…" he found himself murmuring to the quiet room. He didn't want to believe what he was seeing. It wasn't t true. It couldn't be.

Like a sleepwalker, he drifted over to her, his throat tightening; like his tongue was tying itself it knots. Breath left him and he dropped to his knees beside her, broken china pricking his legs as a feeling of despair washed over him like a tidal wave. If he had just stayed, he could've protected her… She wouldn't be so hurt…

His hands reached up and pulled her lifeless form to his chest – he had never really noticed how light she was. So frail and so gentle at the same time. It was a beautiful mix of qualities and only now was Toby beginning to appreciate them. What monster would do this to her of all people?

He held her tightly and buried his head in to her shoulder. Tears streamed down his face as silent sobs racked his body. He rocked gently back and forth, the girl still in his lap.

"Louise…" his distraught voice whispered over and over again, "Louise… you can't leave me… not now… Louise…"

"…Toby?"

The man stopped rocking as his heart leapt in to his throat. Had he imagined it? Imagined her sweet voice talking again?

"…Toby?"

Words could not express the joy and hope and an all manner of other emotions that filled him up as he heard her say his name again. He looked down at the girl against his chest and saw her eyes half open. Tired and dead looking as they were, they were still hers and they were open.

"Louise…" he whispered again, tears still fresh on his face. Shakily, she reached up and placed a single finger upon his lips, and with a cracked voice, she whispered "You're adorable when you're worried, you know that?"

A quiet, dry chuckle escaped his lips. Even when she was half dead, she still had the ability to joke around.

He stopped laughing, however, when she let out a hiss of pain and clutched her side. Her eyes scrunched together tightly and a look of pain spread across her features.

"Louise?" Toby urgently asked, "What's wrong? Are you bleeding?"

But she was in too much pain to say anything, so she just shook her head. Deciding there was really nothing else he could do, he reached out to where she was clutching her side and placed a gentle hand on it. "You'll be fine," he promised, voice shaking, "I'll- I'll call an ambulance – something-"

Again, Louise shook her head, barely managing to whisper the words she said next. "No… they'll find out… Mason was here… bad things will happen…"

Green eyes stared at her incredulously. She was absolutely terrified of that man. So much so that she'd be willing to die rather than face him again. The amount of hate for Mason rose higher (if that was even possible), and Toby made a mental note to track him down; he'd pay for doing this to her.

Ignoring her pleas, Toby reached in to his pocket and began to dial nine-one-one. But a hand gripped the front of his shirt and stopped him mid-dial. Louise stared up at him, her eyes wide and fearful, head shaking. Over and over again she whispered "No… don't… he'll come back…"

"I don't care," Toby said sternly, ensuring he got his point across, "Let him come back. I'd like to meet him again anyways."

She looked as though she were about to argue again, but was cut short when the pain in her side throbbed again; she clutched at it, willing it to go away. Her vision began to blur, but she didn't know why. Just because she was a nurse didn't mean she could diagnose herself.

The last things she could remember were Toby's panicked face looking down in to her own and his frantic voice telling her not to give up on him. After that, all was lost.

Slowly, her eyelids were drooping. As she rested on him, he could feel her breathing getting slower and slower. He placed two fingers on her cold neck and was alarmed to find her pulse virtually didn't exist. He begged her to stay with him, trying his hardest not to shout, but it was useless. She became unconscious right there in front of him.

In a hurry, he pushed the last number in on his cell and (after the rushed blabbering of saying where he was and the situation) waited for the ambulance to arrive.

Over the next few minutes, he found he was beginning to rock back and forth again, cradling her head in his arms, not caring about the broken glass on the floor, or the still sore patch where Mason had punched him. His jaw ached badly, but all that mattered now was Louise. He had been selfish once already today; he wasn't about to do it again.

Finally, the sound of alarms echoed outside and in mere seconds two people in luminous jackets and a medical kit between them rushed in. They paid no heed to Toby as the pulled her from his grasp. They performed a quick series of checks, snippets of phrases leaping out at Toby like poisonous darts. "Possible head trauma… internal bleeding… unlikely to make until morning…"

After a few rushed minutes, another person came through the door with a stretcher, and before he could even react, they had taken her. Only the third person to come in remained behind; he was a short, burly man with stubble and crinkled eyes, as though he had laughed a lot in his lifetime.

"I assume you're the girl's partner?"

Toby blinked at the question. "N-no, I'm just a – just a friend…"

"Ah, I see. You reported this, did you?" Toby nodded.

"You look pretty roughed up," he sated, dragging an expert eye over Toby's appearance, "We'd better take you in as well, but not in the ambulance. Your condition isn't as severe as the girl's," Toby felt a lump in his throat as he heard that, but tried his best to ignore it. This didn't go unnoticed by the medic, however. His eyes softened a little. "She was special to you, huh?"

Numbly, Toby felt himself nod. That girl had saved his life twice now… something that serious always created a bond between two people…

Outside, the ambulance sirens blared and the engine roared. As quickly as it had arrived, the ambulance had sped off, taking Louise with it. The burly medic heaved a sigh.

"Well, come on lad. We'll follow in the car."

The burly man began to walk away, saying over his shoulder "You might want to lock up too. There are some nasty looters around this place. Oh, and there'll most likely be a police enquiry sometime tomorrow afternoon, if the girl's well enough."

In a few minutes, they were both out of the house, doors locked up behind them. The neighbourhood was quiet, despite the traumatic events that had just taking place. Toby had expected… well, noise. Or something. But it was just silent night air, the moon clear in the sky, the recent storm non-existent.

And without really knowing the reason, Toby found himself hating the weather. It shouldn't be like this when Louise had almost died. It was like it was mocking her; making fun of her near-death experience with its tranquillity.

He opened the car door with force and jumped in, vaguely remembering when he had done so in Louise's own car. That memory seemed like years ago now. A time where virtually no problems existed.

And now where was he? In the back of an ambulance car, china shards embedded in to his skin and an aching jaw to boot. Not to mention Louise. But he didn't want to think of that right now.

But as they drove off, he could not help but wonder whether or not she'd be alright**.**

**Again, a bit of a filler, but tell me what you think in a review! :D**

**Also, I apologise for any weird spelling mistakes. My keyboard is acting up lately D:**


	9. A Runaway Patient

**Hey guys! Told you it was a double chapter update ^^**

**Disclaimer: YES, I OWN EVERYTHING****…**** IN MY DREAMS.**

**Chapter 8 **

_Tick._

_Tock._

_Tick._

_Tock._

The rhythmic clicking of the hospital waiting room's clock filled the air; it beat in time with his breath and his pacing feet. He just couldn't sit down; not when he knew Louise might possibly be dying right now.

The doctors had checked him over hours ago. Turns out he had almost fractured his right temporomandibular joint (the bit that connects the jaw to the rest of the skull). If the punch had angled itself upwards just a little, he'd be wearing a bandage or something, looking ridiculous. The nurse had insisted he take some painkillers, but he had refused. He'd never really liked taking tablets.

More little souvenirs from the brawl were the cuts on his knees and palms where broken china and glass had ripped through his clothes and latched on to bare skin. It was safe to say Toby looked a little more than roughed up when coming to the hospital. But he didn't really care. Compared to Louise's injuries, he was more than fine.

Various sets of eyes stared at him as he paced yet another length of the waiting room, glancing up at the clock every now and again. This time it showed 5:53am in its black numbering. So it had been about… eight hours since he had been here? He really didn't know. His mind hadn't really been focusing on the time when he had left her house. He had been focused about arriving here, seeing Louise.

And, in his mind's eye, he seemed to see himself barging in to this room when he had heard that this was where they had taken her.

_The tall man stormed through the door, making it slam on its hinges before he strode forwards. Various people (mostly nurses) attempted to slow or calm him down, but were unsuccessful. Another few paces and he was beside the reception desk. Slamming his hands down on the wooden surface with a little more force than intended, he asked in a constricted voice. "Has a patient named Louise come through here at some point tonight? Blonde hair, grey eyes?"_

_The startled elderly nurse behind the desk replied with a shaky "That's confidential information I'm not permitted to divulge, sir. But if you just wait-"_

_"I can't wait!" he growled, voice cracking with the amount of pent up emotions swirling around in his head, "I have to know if she's okay, or if she's __–__ she's-"_

_He could not bring himself to say the word 'dead', so instead buried his head in his arms, trying his best to keep control. If he just hadn't left her alone none of this would've happened!_

_Suddenly, he felt a tentative touch on his elbow. His head jerked up and he saw the nurse looking at him with concern and- was it sadness?- in her crinkled eyes. She leaned in a little and whispered "Yes dear, she came in half an hour ago; but don't tell anyone I told you that." She winked at him and nodded over to the currently empty waiting room, "Now," she began in a much louder voice, "I suggest you wait over there before you cause more trouble."_

_His face split in to a grateful smile and he whispered an urgent "Thank you," to the nurse and went over to the waiting room._

And that was his arrival. Since then he had been pacing his heart out across the laminate flooring, gnawing his knuckles as he did so. Over the few hours he had been in there, he'd seen other patients rushed in and people beginning to fill up the waiting room. Still he paced. The nurses kept throwing concerned glances at him; one even attempted to get him to sit down, but once again he had refused. For some reason, the pacing helped distract him a little.

He looked at the clock again. 6:36am already? Well, at least he was getting his exercise for the week…

"Nurse, stop that patient! She isn't meant to be out of bed yet!"

Toby stopped pacing and looked up, trying to see what all the ruckus was about. It didn't take him long to find out.

Right there in the hallway, sprinting towards him full pelt, IV drip dragging behind her, was Louise. Her hair was flared out around her head, her hospital gown flapping around her knees and a rebellious smile lighting up her face, making her look slightly insane. Comically following in her wake down the hallway were at least two doctors and three nurses, all scrambling to try and get a hold of he runaway patient. One of them was even pushing a wheelchair, which made the situation even funnier. The very same doctor that had treated Toby was there to, stethoscope swinging around his neck as he held his pen in the air, attempting to outrun the girl.

His green eyes widened and a smile spread itself across his face. He felt his arms widen as she came closer and before he knew it she had slammed it to him, almost making him fall over in the force of the hug she gave. The nurses all seemed to soften, each giving off a little "Aww…" at the pair. Automatically, Toby's arms tightened around Louise, her head dipping in to his shoulder as she clutched him tight.

"Thank you," she whispered in to his ear, "Thank you so much…"

"Well, I couldn't just leave you there, could I?" he murmured back.

A muffled laugh was her response. Finally, she pulled away, her hands crushed against his chest as she looked up at him. He looked tired; there were dark circles under his bloodshot eyes and his hair looked unrulier than usual. But to her, he was perfect.

Loudly, someone behind them cleared his throat. Unwillingly, Toby let go of the girl in his arms and stared over her shoulder at the stern looking group of doctors and nurses who had chased Louise down the halls.

"When you're quite finished, ," the leader said, stepping forward a little, "We'd like you back where you're supposed to be. On your bed. _Recovering_."

Reluctantly, she pulled away, giving his hand a squeeze before practically being dragged back on to her wheelchair by the nurses. She looked over her shoulder at him and flashed a smile. Without really realising it, Toby mouthed the words 'I'll be waiting for you,' at her across the hallway. She gave a little wave in response before being veered off around the corner like a mental person. He couldn't help but laugh; though you didn't see it often, she really did have a rebellious streak when she wanted to. Another admirable quality that the girl seemed to possess. She was just so awesome, yet so lovable; shy, but confident; kind and gentle, but with a hint of fire. She was an impossible person, filled with too many conflicting qualities that made an unusually perfect mix. The fact that she was beautiful too made it all worthwhile.

It was only after a few minutes he realised he was still standing in the same place, staring at the spot where he had seen Louise disappear.

"You know," said a voice to his right. He looked round to see the elderly nurse standing up behind the desk, looking at him over her spectacles, "You two ought to make a very god couple."

He merely blushed in reply**.**

**You know you luuuuurve her Toby! :3**

**R&R please!**


	10. Flowers

**Hey guys! A bit of a filler today, but meh ^^ Before I do a disclaimer, I have to say this: if you haven't listened to Embrace's Nature's Law yet, you should totally go check it out! It describes Toby and Louise perfectly 3**

**Disclaimer: ****…****still don't own anything (-_-)**

**Chapter 9**

It had been three weeks until the hospital finally decided to let Louise leave again She had suffered a (very minor, thankfully) case of internal bleeding in the liver. It should've been physically impossible to run down the hallways at six in the morning and hug Toby like she did on the day of her injuries; but hey, this was Louise right? There were bound to be exceptions where she was concerned.

She had had the displeasure of spending both Christmas _and _New Years in a weird-smelling hospital bed, and he felt bad for not being able to visit her on Christmas Day; his mom had managed to collar him for an entire week, right up until after New Years. He had gotten her a present though... But he would save that for later.

He thought of this and more as he walked up the corridors of the huge hospital, a spring in his step and an ecstatic look on his face. He was wearing his Thunder Thursday Tobuscus shirt, with dark blue jeans and, of course, his wheelies. Clutched in his hand was a bouquet of flowers: bright blue forget-me-nots were surrounded by pale pink Viscarias and dotted with white gardenias and variegated tulips. The overall effect was beautiful, but he would've thought twice when buying them if he had known what they actually meant*…

His wheelies clicked a little on the floor as he carried on walking, eventually making it to the waiting room where he had paced so many hours away before. It seemed silly now, that he had thought she wasn't going to make it. Despite her shy demeanour, she was a tough girl. Independent. She could hold her own when she wanted to. He hadn't even needed to worry in the slightest.

In a huge contrast to when he had first entered the waiting room, his hands tentatively opened the door and he popped his head round. Janet (the elderly nurse at the reception desk, Toby had learned) looked up over her spectacles and a small smile flitted across her features. Quietly, she said "She'll be out in a moment dear. But if you have flowers, I'm afraid you can't come in. We don't want Mr. Johanson's hay fever acting up again now, do we?"

Gratefully, he nodded and withdrew his head from the room and stood out of the doorway and bounced on the balls of his feet whilst he looked around.

On the opposite wall, there was a display of a collage (obviously made by children) made entirely out of handprints, all different colours, each with the child's name underneath them. Most (Toby noticed sadly) even had death dates on them, with notes like 'You'll forever be in our hearts' or 'We hope you'll be better off wherever you are now' scrawled around them. At the bottom, a bronze plinth read in loopy writing:

_'Made by the gifted children of Clover Avenue Elementary School in collaboration_

_with Louise Walker in memory of all those we have lost in the previous years._

_May they be in our hearts forevermore.'_

He stared at the sign for a few more seconds.

Was there really anyone this girl _hadn't _helped?

Well, that was a stupid question. She was a nurse after all… A trainee, but a nurse nonetheless. And by the looks of that collage, she was a good nurse. But of course, Toby had never doubted that… She had saved his life after all. Twice.

And a sudden burst of affection for the girl rushed through his chest at that very second. It was just impossible how much she gave when she took so little herself. People like that were so rare, so if you did have the luck to find one you never let go of them. Not that he was planning to anyway…

There was a creak of hinges behind him and he peered around the corner. Louise was there, just pushing open the room door, looking around as if she expected someone to be here. Toby smiled to himself. Clumsily, he hid the bouquet behind him and was preparing himself to jump out at her, when loudly, she said "I know you're there Toby."

Deflating in defeat, he slumped around the corner, pout evident on his features. He looked at her accusingly. "You always spoil the fun!"

"That's me alright," she replied sarcastically, unfazed by his playful glare. She shot him a mischievous smirk from underneath her wild hair.

"And to think I was going to be nice and give you these,"

With a flourish, he pulled the flowers which he had been hiding behind his back in to view, a hopeful look crossing his face. Gray eyes widened and the girl clapped a hand to her mouth, before walking towards him and pulling them out of his grasp. "I-Toby, they're beautiful. Thank you…"

Then she did something Toby really hadn't seen coming. She stood on her tiptoes and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. He smile morphed in to a comical 'o' as his eyes widened, and before he could even react, Louise had zoomed around him and walked off down the corridor, obviously eager to finally be free from her prison.

He stood, dumbfounded on the spot for a few more moments, his hand touching the spot Louise had kissed. Finally, feeling came back in to his legs and numbly, he sauntered to the hospital exit.

He stepped outside and what met his eyes would've surprised him if he had been thinking straight. Louise was hugging a brunette girl who had freckles all around her nose and bright blue eyes. She pulled away and immediately questioned who the flowers were from. In answer, Louise turned and smiled when she saw Toby, before gesturing over at him. The brunette girl's eyes looked over and shock flitted across her features. Faintly, Toby heard her say "Tobuscus bought you flowers? Tobuscus?"

Louise nodded.

And suddenly, Toby wished he wasn't a YouTube star.

The stranger practically flew over and started firing questions at him, speaking so quickly that even Toby's usually hyperactive mind couldn't keep up. Apparently, his confusion showed and Louise came to save him. She dragged the girl away by her shoulders and loudly told her to 'Shut up! Let the man breathe!'

Throwing Louise a look of utter contempt, she stepped away. "Fine," she said, giving up, "But you owe me, considering I'm driving you home in my car!"

With that, she stormed off. Louise was still giggling when she saw Toby's dumbfounded expression.

"Oh, that was Sarah," she explained, "She's… a little nuts."

"I guessed."

They both shared a silent bout of laughter, before wondering over to Sarah's car. Toby hesitated; he felt as if he was intruding by getting in to a stranger's car and hitching a ride.

That is, until he heard Sarah say loudly "Wait until I tell mom I had Tobuscus of all people in my car!" she then turned to face him and asked, "What are you waiting for? Get in!"

Finally, his foggy mind seemed to clear and a smirk spread itself across his face. He held his hands up in a sign of defence and said "Whatever you say gurl!"

It was safe to say the brunette looked delighted that Toby had finally found his voice. She reached behind her and opened up the backdoor, letting Toby jump in.

With that, the trio trundled off down the road, all manners of thoughts running through each of their heads.

Hope you enjoyed this chappie! ^^

*Well, certain flowers have certain meanings, and in this case:

Variegated Tulips mean 'beautiful eyes'. (:3)

Viscarias mean 'will you dance with me?' (I actually chose that one cause it's pretty XD).

Forget-me-nots mean 'true love'/ 'memories'.

Gardenias mean 'secret love'.

I would've put an entire bouquet of blossoming roses in there (Because that means 'Gratitude' ironically), but I thought it would be a bit weird :P

…Yeah, kinda cheesy I know x3

Just to let you know, I'm planning something BIG. Like a kinda finale ^^ Not to mention lots of cute moments 3 Hope you'll enjoy them when they arrive!

R&R please!


	11. Cleaning Up And Games Of Chase

**Hey guys! Hope you enjoy the next chappie of Gratitude ^^**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything copyrighted, though I am getting a Tobuscus zip-up hoodie! :D**

**Chapter 10**

"You sure boss?"

"Idiot, why would I be suggesting it if I wasn't serious? I didn't escape just for my vengeance on that little brat. She's not worth the trouble. But money… yes, that's worth it…"

The wanting in the man's voice made the group shudder. Even as stupid goons, they could tell that this guy was twisted. In more ways than one…

The shack's wooden floorboards creaked as the leader walked once around a small scrubbed table, where a blueprint of the Union Bank was spread. He eyed it with greed, tracing a grubby finger over one of the many routes the group would be using.

"We must plan. Everything has to be perfect. And if one of you screw up," he glared out at the group of men, "You'll pay. Dearly."

They all nodded in respect at the man's words, each wondering how they had ended up here.

Not one of them knew why.

"Ah, home at last."

Louise sprinted up her garden path, keys jangling in her hand. Toby had given them back to her a fortnight ago, when she had asked where they were.

A click sounded through the air and the fair haired girl swung open the door, Toby and Sarah right behind her. The hallway met their eyes and Sarah gasped. With good reason too.

Though it looked much cleaner than the living room, it still looked like a horde of people had trampled through it.

Where Toby had chased Mason out of the house, his flailing arms had knocked a china ornament off of a nearby table (which had also been toppled) and smashed to pieces on the floor. Near the entrance to the living room, there were shimmering shards of glass and broken frame where a hanging picture had fallen. Said picture had practically been torn to shreds.

"Whoa…" Sarah whispered, "Mason really did a number on this place, huh?"

Awkwardly, Toby rubbed the back of his neck, "I think I might've gone a bit overboard…"

"You wrecked this place?"

The brunette hadn't meant to phrase it so accusingly, but that was just the way she spoke. Louise turned at this little exchange; she hadn't been told by Toby what exactly he had done to ward off Mason from her house. She had just assumed he had called the police or something…

Toby went pink. "Well, I didn't mean to…"

"How?" both girls said in unison.

Toby didn't answer, and instead tried to add in a false cheery tone "Wait until you see the living room!"

Sarah's eyes widened at his statement and before either Louise or Toby could stop her, she ran in and disappeared in to the room Toby had mentioned.

Silence, and then…

"OH-MY-GOD!"

Louise and Toby shared a look, before rushing in after her. They skidded to a halt and looked in to the devastated living room, where Sarah stared back.

"You guys must've thrown some epic punches to do this! I didn't know you were a fighter, Toby…."

"Neither did I…" Louise muttered as she too looked at the wrecked place. It looked as though a bomb had hit it. Or multiple bombs. Whichever you preferred.

"Heh, yeah…" Toby muttered, crouching down and picking up another broken shard. It was from the vase he had smashed over Mason's head. He stood up again and showed the ten centimetre fragment to Louise. She looked back at it with wide eyes.

"Sorry about your vase, Lou…"

In an unusually high voice, she waved him off with a "No no, it's fine. Better a shattered vase than a shattered… well, me."

They both let out a low chuckle, thankfully interrupted by Sarah. She bounced over to them and grabbed Louise by the shoulders.

"You know what this means, right?"

Hesitantly, the fair haired girl shook her head. Sarah rolled her eyes, before darting off to the kitchen. Toby and Louise shared a look, both silently agreeing on the same thing.

Completely insane.

"It means…" Sarah's voice flitted from the kitchen and before Toby could look over he was hit in the face with a cloth. A muffled yelp from beside him told him that Louise had just gotten the same treatment. Swiftly, he ripped the cloth off of his face and stared at the insane brunette now standing in front of them. She held a broom in on hand and a dust pan and brush in the other. On her hands were rubber gloves and around her feet were three polishing bottles and a spray bottle of Frebreze©.

"Cleaning!" she finished, throwing Louise the broom. She caught it and stumbled back a little, before Toby was thrown the dustpan.

"You," she said, pointing at Toby, "Can start in the hallway. Me and Louise will start in here. Off you go," she steered him out of the room before he could even protest and closed the living room door behind him. Behind the door he could hear Louise saying "You just met him and you're treating him like a servant?"

"Well, we are cleaning up most of his mess…"

"If it wasn't for 'his mess' I wouldn't be here right now!"

"Which is why I gave him the easy job!"

This bickering carried on for a while and the man thought it best not to intrude. If he entered the fray, he doubted he'd come out alive. So instead he just took to sweeping up all the shattered things in to a corner, ready to be put in the trash. He hadn't really taken it in earlier, but he really had done a number on this place, as Sarah had so eloquently put it…

Eventually, he came to the shattered picture frame. Trying not to ruin the picture further, he gently wiped off the broken shards of glass and took a look at it.

It was a faded picture of what looked to be a birthday party. With a jolt, he realised the young girl in the centre was Louise, smiling a gap-toothed grin up at the camera with an equally young Sarah beside her. On her other side, a tall, blonde haired woman had her arm around the child's shoulders. Toby assumed it was her mother, because she had the same shaped nose and eyes, though they were brown instead of grey. Even her chin had a small resemblance, not to mention her height.

It was a very heart warming scene, until he saw the back ground.

There was a doorway in the picture, leading to the kitchen where three men were gathered around a table, playing a card game of some sort. One of the men had just chucked down about three cards, whilst another picked two up from the deck and with a sudden bout of realisation, Toby realised who was there.

It was Mason, looking gloomy, not paying the slightest attention that it was Louise's birthday. In fact, he looked more worried about his card game. And suddenly it all clicked in to place.

_"Kid, I'm not gonna let you get in the way of family matters, so you had better leave before you get caught in the crossfire."_

Toby had assumed that this had been the muttering of a lunatic, but it seemed he was telling the truth. It would explain why Louise was so petrified of him, why he had come after her in the first place…

And why they both had the same grey eyes…

Suddenly, the door clicked open and Toby dropped the picture, pretending not to have noticed anything. If Louise hadn't told him anything yet, it meant she didn't want him to know yet. She would tell him everything when she was ready…

He looked up and saw a very menacing looking Louise at the door. An evil smile was on her face as she held the Frebreze© bottle aloft, as though it were a gun.

Toby's eyes widened.

"Run." She said simply.

He gulped and immediately sprinted up the stairs, the sound of Louise's manic giggling behind him. And to be honest, he couldn't stop from laughing himself. It seemed like she had some of her playful spark back at last.

"You can't catch me!" he called behind him, "You can never catch people made of epicosity!"

Faintly, he heard her yell "I thought that people made of epicosity were illegal in seventeen states?"

"Yep!"

He darted around the hallway upstairs and suddenly wished he hadn't. It seemed someone had left their slippers on the landing. He tripped and fell like a ton of bricks.

Now, one thing about life is that you just don't know how some things happen. An event will take place and everyone will be left standing there thinking 'What the hell just happened…?' with no explanation at all.

Yeah, this was probably one of those times…

There was a muffled yelp and before he could even question how it had happened, he saw her grey eyes. Somehow, Louise had managed to fall on top of him, he legs either side of his hips.

His breath caught in his throat as he stared down at her, suddenly acutely aware of everything; how her hand was on his chest whilst the other was splayed next to his head on the floor; the way her hair seemed flow forwards, tickling his neck and emphasising her face, and the way her stomach was pressed against his. She looked back avidly, biting her lip. She seemed to be struggling with something, though whatever it was, Toby didn't see it.

Heartbeats seemed to multiply by thousands as her hands tentatively reached up, fingertips brushing his neck. If she just moved a little closer-

"OI!"

Sarah's voice sounded from downstairs and the pair jumped apart, pulling one another up. Sarah's voice filled the air again.

"Where the hell have you two gone? We aren't done cleaning yet!"

They both shared a look and blushed the deepest of reds.

"We should get back-"

"Yeah, um, sorry about that-"

"No problem, just-just gotta be more careful-"

"I guess…"

They looked at each other again, before Louise decided to troop off down the stairs. Toby stared after her, letting out a sigh of both relief and disappointment. It had almost happened again, but for the best or worst he didn't know.

Slightly deflated, he followed in her wake, wondering what would've happened if Sarah had chosen to yell a couple more seconds later…

Something amazing, probably, his mind concluded.

**Ahhh, I bet you hate me for winding you guys up huh? Muhahahaha :D**

**And what's that I see at the top of this page? The plot? OMIGAWD NO WAY.**

**R&R please ^^**


	12. Night

**Geez, I'm an on a roll with these chapters! Muse is coming out of my ears! :D**

**Disclaimer: Nada****…**** Zilch :[**

**Chapter 11**

The trio now stared, exhausted, at the sparkling living room. Louise leant heavily on her broom and wiped her forehead and Toby seemed to droop where he stood against the doorframe. But was Sarah exhausted? Of course not. It was like she was on a constant sugar high, bouncing around like an over excited three-year-old at a theme park.

"Ehh, it'll be alright I guess," she remarked, gloved hands on her hips, looking over the living room with an expert eye.

"Alright?" Louise squeaked hysterically, "Alright? It's freaking glowing. It's more than alright!"

The brunette merely shrugged. Louise rolled her grey eyes. Even if she was her best friend, she was a little bit difficult to deal with sometimes…

"Well, I'll be off." Sarah said absently, pulling of her gloves and putting them on the now upright coffee table. Louise gaped at her. "What, you're just leaving? Didn't you want to stay or-"

"Nope," Sarah interjected, giving her a look that clearly said 'I know something that you don't'. Agitation rose in Louise's tired mind and she mouthed (so as to not to gain the attention of Toby) 'What?'

The other merely tapped her nose. God she was so irritating sometimes!

Before she could even try to stop her, Sarah had darted past her and had already exited the front door with a hurried "Bye!" when Louise managed to go after her. She let out an irritated sigh and pinched the bridge of her nose. Whatever Sarah was thinking, Louise highly doubted it would be anything good. Nothing good ever happened when her friend had that look on her face….

Toby poked his head around the living room door and saw the blonde girl in the hallway, seemingly face-palming. He couldn't blame her either… A friend like that would drive anyone nuts. Even him.

"Ugghhh," she groaned, turning back to Toby and wringing her hands, "She is so _annoying _sometimes!"

Inwardly, he laughed at her frustration. It was cute, in a weird way. "Why?" he asked.

"That's exactly it! I don't know why!"

He raised an eyebrow at her. "That makes sense…"

Lightly, she punched him on the arm. "Quiet, you."

"Yes ma'am." He said, giving a mock bow. She laughed, as he intended. His gift of making people laugh had always benefitted him in some way or another. Not to mention he enjoyed being the joker. It was way better than any other job he had ever seen.

"You know what?" she asked him suddenly. He looked at her through his rusty green eyes.

"What?"

"I never did get you that coffee, did I?"

He blinked at her for a couple of seconds, before realising what she was talking about.

"I completely forgot about that." He stated, giving a lopsided grin. She smiled back and grabbed his arm, before dragging him in to the kitchen and out on to the back porch, which he hadn't even noticed before.

It was that odd time between afternoon and evening, when the sky was only just starting to get dark, but it wasn't cold out. A warm breeze tickled his face as he looked out to the magnificent back garden. He hadn't thought it was possible, but it looked even greater than the front garden. Purely because it was how a garden should be; wild and untamed.

An unruly hedge ran around the entire perimeter of the fence, the corners taken up by large oak trees; flowers hung from the hanging baskets that dangled from the tree branches themselves. With a little jolt, his eyes were drawn to the centre of the garden, where his flowers had been hastily planted. He could tell by the freshly dug earth that surrounded them.

"Well, you didn't expect me to just shove them in a jug of water and watch them wilt, did you?"

He turned at her voice and saw she was plumping a cushion on the rocking chair that had been put outside on the porch. Its partner was next to it; both looked equally whitewashed and old. She patted the seat, beckoning for him to sit down, before running off in to the house in to the kitchen to make coffee.

He stared after her for a few seconds, before sitting down. The chair creaked loudly and Toby wondered whether it would break, but Louise's muffled voice from the kitchen yelled "Don't worry about the creaking. It does it all the time."

A smile crept on to his features as she said that. He didn't really know why, but it sort of felt a little… homey here, especially when she was treating him like a visiting member of the family.

"How d'you like your coffee?" she asked.

"Strong, please."

"Sugar?"

"No thanks."

A shuffling sound came from the porch door and he looked over to see Louise, carrying two cups, a plate and a miniature table with her all at once, even when she was opening the door. Toby looked at her strangely and started to get up to help, but Louise somehow waved him off. "It's alright," she said, "I used to be a waitress. You learn to carry loads of stuff at once in that trade."

As she put the table down and the cups clinked on to it, Toby said "What else don't I know about you?"

"I like my coffee black," she replied, smirking. Another creak issued in the garden as she sat on the opposite chair.

"And…?"

She looked at him with her thickly lashed eyes, warm smile spreading itself across her face. "You're so nosy."

"Yep," he smirked back. She rolled her eyes at him, picking up her cup and swivelling the contents around in it.

"Well…" she looked out to the garden, as though it would give her the answers, "I like to draw, if that's anything… But what about you?"

"Not much more than what you see," he answered, holding out his arms, "Just me and my awesomeness."

"Oh come on, there's always more to a person than their outer personality."

"And how would you know?"

"Nurse, duh." She replied, trying not to laugh. Mentally, he smacked himself. Of course; nurse. They had to deal with secretive people all the time. Not that he had any secrets, but still…

The sun began to set low in the sky as the pair began to talk more and more animatedly, re-enacting funny stories in their life and telling awful jokes. They laughed so much that they didn't see the fireflies darting through the trees, lighting up the dark sky like stars. Their drinks were diminished quickly and each found out more about one another than they had ever known. And without really realising it, they were tightening the bond that they had created more than a month ago, intertwining with each other in ways they couldn't imagine.

Finally, (and somewhat sadly) Louise noticed the time on her wristwatch. It was almost ten o'clock. They had talked away almost two hours. Even if it was a weekend, she wanted a good nights sleep, considering she hadn't been able to get any sleep in the hospital unless they put her on a drug of some sort that knocked her out. The hospital room had just felt so… uncomfortable. Impossible to sleep in. Not to mention the guy in the next bed had been moaning non-stop twenty-four-seven.

But she didn't want Toby to leave either…

But said man had noticed her looking at the clock and managed to squint through the darkness to tell what the little hands said. Loudly, he stretched and casually suggested that he had better start moving, so that she wouldn't feel like she had kicked him out.

Her eyes seem to dim a little and she stood, Toby doing so too. They looked at each other for a second, before Louise took off and lead him to the door. It clicked open and she held it for him. His wheelies clicked a little as he walked down the stone steps, before he turned to look at her. The same look he had seen on her face once before was there; it was as though she was struggling with something that Toby couldn't quite see. He stared at her through puzzled eyes, trying to figure out what was happening in that brain of hers.

"See ya later, Lou."

"Bye, Toby." She gave a sad smile and he nodded at her, before turning to walk down the steps. He froze, however, when a quivering voice met his ears.

"Toby, I'm scared."

Turning, he looked at her with concern. She looked back nervously, the tips of her fingers tapping incessantly against each other as she looked around, as though not wanting to be overheard. He didn't speak, deciding to let her complete what she was going to say.

"What if- if _he _comes back? And no-one knows and-and-"

Her voice trembled and broke, causing Toby to go back up to her. He walked up the stone steps so that he was once again taller than her, and began to speak. "Lou," he said, taking a breath, "If you really are that worried, I could stay with you the night if you wanted."

She looked up at him, eyes hopeful. Her voice whispered the next sentence. "Would you?"

He nodded.

And with that, he was lead back in to the house.

**Don't worry, there is a carry on chapter! More fluffiness coming your way ^^**

**R&R please! :D**


	13. I Think I Love You

**Hey guys! More fluff comin' your way :DD I just thought I'd mention first though, that this FanFic focuses more on the couple's actual relationship, rather than revolving around YouTube. I may throw VidCon in here at some point, but otherwise this is totally Toby/Louise central. ^^**

**Disclaimer: Don't own anything :[**

**Chapter 12**

"Are you sure you're alright with this, Toby?"

"Wouldn't have suggested it if I wasn't."

She smiled gratefully at him as she finished the preparations on his 'bed'. She had taken the back cushions off of the sofa and tried to make it as comfortable as possible. With a final flourish, a single duvet that she had gotten from the spare room upstairs landed on the would-be bed with a 'flump', completing the little setup. The curtains had been drawn and the kitchen door had been shut too, so as to cut out almost all outside light and noise.

"Now remember," she said, walking around the sofa towards him, "If you need anything; food, whatever, just take it from the kitchen. The bathroom is the first door to your right on the upstairs landing and in case anything seriously wrong happens, my bedroom is the last door to the left. Got that?"

He nodded and gave her a smile, "Don't worry; I'm not going to set the house on fire. Well," he paused, staring suspiciously at the lamp on the TV cupboard, "Maybe _accidentally_…"

She merely rolled her eyes at him.

"Well, goodnight then, I guess…"

An understanding gaze met her own. The living room door came in to view as she walked closer to it, pausing at the frame, fingers tapping slightly on the drywall. She turned over to look at him. He looked back, still standing there with his hands in his jean pockets, coat discarded on the chair behind him.

A million thoughts shot through her head in that one moment, and she wanted to voice them all out loud. But the only thing she said was "I really appreciate this, Toby. You know that right?"

"'Course, gurl. Why wouldn't I?"

A smile flashed in his direction. Her hand wondered over to the light switch.

"Night Toby."

"Night Lou."

She blew him an over-exaggerated kiss before turning off the light and closing the door behind her. Muffled thuds sounded above his head as she walked upstairs, before he heard a creak and all was silent.

He sighed to himself.

May as well get to bed too, he thought silently

Soft snores filled the living room as the clock slowly ticked its way past 1p.m. in the morning. A slight rustle could be heard as Toby adjusted himself in his sleep, his head dangling ridiculously off the side of the sofa. Thankfully, the sofa itself was made of fabric rather than leather, so it had been much easier for him to get to sleep on.

After however many hours, he had finally managed to get to sleep. Well, proper sleep instead of waking sleep. You know, that odd place between being awake and being asle-

"AHHHHH!"

Toby leapt awake, eyes wide, sitting straight up in his bed, hoping he hadn't heard what he thought he had just heard. Throwing the covers off himself, he sprang to his feet and hurried to the living room door and listened. He could hear the constant shuffle of bed sheets from upstairs, as though someone was struggling.

Not even bothering to put on a shirt, he ripped open the door and practically flew up the stairs, nearly tripping as he did so. His eyes darted from side to side as he reached the landing, blood pumping in his ears. Remembering what Louise had said about rooms earlier, he rushed to the far left one and hesitantly opened the door, expecting a punch or kick to meet him.

What he found, however, was completely the opposite.

A shaking form was curled up on the double bed, head in her arms resting on her knees, her covers entangled all around as her hair fell wildly around her head. A confused look came upon his features and he dared to creep over, feet barely making a sound on the floorboards.

"…Lou?" he questioned.

No answer.

Chewing his lip a little, he sat on the edge of the bed a shuffled his way over. Still no response. Tentatively, a long arm reached out and touched her shoulder.

Finally, she responded. Her head shot up and she looked at him as though she had only just been told he was there. Her face was streaked with tears and she was still shaking with silent sobs, arms wrapped around her knees. A sorrowful noise sounded from her chest as she held back more uncontrollable sobs.

His eyebrows dipped as he sat closer, placing his entire arm around both of her shaking shoulders, trying to comfort her. Unable to keep control anymore, she fell in to his embrace as though she had been waiting for it, her head resting on his bare chest, arms wrapped around his midriff. Eyes widened a little a surprise overwhelmed him for a moment, before he just decided to roll with it. He looked down at her as she began to murmur.

"It's him… It's always him… He doesn't even leave me alone when I'm asleep…"

"Hey," his whispered, stroking her golden hair, "It's alright. It was just a nightmare."

She nodded against him, her silent sobs becoming fewer and fewer. It seemed as though he calmed her greatly, and he was glad he had. He hated to just to even think of her being distraught, let alone when she actually was. She didn't deserve to feel such emotions, especially when she had helped so many people, him included. She deserved greater things, better than this. Why was the world so unfair?

He heard another murmur, and smiled down at the girl. "Huh?" he asked.

Louder, she repeated what she had said.

"I think I love you, Toby Turner."

His hand stopped stroking her hair as every particle in his body seemed to quiver before freezing. Heartbeats seemed to slow, before speeding up again and repeating the process like a crazed person let loose with a set of bongos.

Numbly, he asked "Wh-what…?"

No answer.

The girl in his lap was asleep.

He stared at her for few more seconds, wondering if his ears had misled him. Surely she hadn't said what he thought she had said…? And he wasn't going to wake her up to find out- for once she was finally so peaceful looking. He didn't want to disturb that.

Clumsily, he tried to move off of the bed, but as soon as he had even began to twitch, the girl squirmed and let out an agitated sigh in her sleep. Sighing, the man gave up and just took to holding her again. Though he would never admit it out loud, it actually felt kind of… natural to be holding her like this. Her frame seemed to fit perfectly against his own, and her long hair tickled his bare skin.

Without really realising it, he was smiling down at her, a protective caring evident in his eyes.

Honestly, what feeling in the world was better than this?

That night, he held her until morning. They sat together as though they belonged, Toby accidently falling asleep at about two in the morning. But even in sleep he held her close.

It was just proof of their feelings.


	14. Finally Realised

**Sorry I haven't updated as quickly as I usually do guys! The dreaded writers-block struck me over the head with a sledge hammer D:**

**Hope you enjoy this half filler-half discovery/feelings chapter of Gratitude! :D**

**Disclaimer: Do I really still have to do this? Don't own anything, 'cept my own chars.**

**Chapter 13**

Light itself seemed to flow through the air, filling the world with delicious warmth. Laughter echoed around the void, but the girl could see no people. Only the faintest of shadows, with no features whatsoever. Just their laughing voices.

She stared around, wondrous delight bestowed on her features at the marvel of it all. It was as though a huge portion of herself was so content, filled up to the brim with a warm glow that seemed to shine from her every orifice.

"Hey, Lou."

She turned around at the sound of her pet name and saw one of the shadows becoming clearer and clearer as it walked towards her, finally dispelling the mist and revealing the familiar figure of Toby, hands in his pockets once again.

…Although, he looked different somehow. The scar on his head didn't exist, and it was as if he had never seen a fight in his life, let alone been in one. His skin seemed to glow and the white-toothed smile he showed made it even better. He held out a hand.

"Aren't you coming?" he asked.

Hesitantly, she looked at his hand. The laughter still went on, but it was as though she and Toby were apart from it, in their own little bubble. The voices were muffled, as though they had been taken outside from a huge party.

"Lou," he repeated and she looked up at his eyes, hand still held out. It was so easy to get lost in those green orbs of his. "I can help you."

She wanted to reply with an "I know." But her voice seemed to be non-existent in this void. It seemed the only way to join those laughing voices was to trust Toby.

_Take his hand,_ her mind whispered, _take his hand and everything will be alright._

And, for once, she let her free side take over. Her hand reached out and held his own. His smile brightened, and he pulled her forwards as the laughter became loud once again, and the entire place was filled with a bright light, making even the shadows vanish.

The last thing she heard was Toby's voice, whispering in to the light.

"I can help you."

It was so warm… so cosy… she didn't want to get up…

A half-hearted yawn escaped her lips and her eyes fluttered open. She soon realised she was led on her side, leaning against something warm and… moving?

Her drowsy demeanour vanished completely as her head jerked up. She knew for a fact that her bed would be warm, but it should definitely not be moving. She looked at her would-be 'bed cover' and almost toppled out off of the mattress at what she saw.

With his tanned arms around her waist, Toby lay there, head half buried in the quilt, snoring away with his mouth wide open, unruly hair even more messed up than usual. And with an even bigger jolt, she realised he was shirtless. In her bed. At nine o'clock in the morning.

It seemed she had been resting her head against his chest, which was she had felt something moving against her head.

And then it all came flooding back to her. How she had had that nightmare again, woken up screaming and Toby had come to comfort her.

And she had said… oh no…

_What did I think I was doing? Saying things like that__…__ It's suicide!_

As gently as she possibly could, she began to unlatch Toby's arms from her waist (being irresistibly reminded of the coffee incident), but she saw his eyelids flicker and immediately pretended to be asleep again. Flopping back down like a ragdoll, she slowed her breathing and waited. She heard the covers rustle and the creak of bedsprings as he finally let go of her. From the way the mattress tilted, it seemed he had edged over and slipped off the bed, making the floorboards creak as he tried to quietly exit the room, failing miserably.

When she was sure he had gone, her eyes opened once again. Sure enough, the bedroom was empty, sunlight shining innocently through the window, where the curtains had been drawn the previous night.

Blatantly, Toby didn't want her to know he had been there; the covers which he had laid on top of had been smoothed out and the door been closed behind him, to make it look like nothing odd had happened at all. Maybe he just didn't want to deal with the awkwardness of the situation, but something told her that his intention was just to let her sleep peacefully and not be freaked out when she woke up…

Or maybe he hoped she wouldn't remember… Yes, that was probably it. He didn't want her to remember what she had said; perhaps he was even thinking that it had been sleep-induced talk; in other words, utter nonsense.

But she knew it wasn't. Truth had been evident in those seven words she had muttered, even if she had been half-asleep at the time. Only now was the girl realising this as she stared at the spiral patterns on her bedroom ceiling, trying to find some sort of meaning or answer in them. Of course, none came to her.

She even remembered the exact moment she had fallen for him. As soon as he had caught her around the waist in that coffee shop, she had been taken. Taken in to his life, taken in to his heart, and him to her own. A quiet giggle escaped her lips as she recounted the memory. He had been so adorable… heck, he still was. Not to mention he had such a great sense of humour too. But it wasn't just that… He had proved yesterday he was caring, proved weeks ago that he was protective of her. Brave as well, even though most didn't see it…

These feelings… they had been lying dormant in her chest for weeks. How had she not realised when he had saved her life on that stormy night a month ago…? How were these emotions only just awakening now, asking all these stupidly obvious questions?

And why didn't Toby want to believe that her words had been true?

An insane thought popped in to her mind, but she immediately shooed it away. How could he possibly…? But of course not! She was stupid to even think things like that!

_Maybe I should confront him about it, _she thought to herself, _then we could clear everything up__…_

But then her voice of reason kicked in. Imagine how freaked out he would be if what she thought wasn't true! He'd probably never want to see her again. And she didn't ever, ever want that to happen…

No, she would act how he wanted her to act: like she didn't remember anything at all.

Deciding this was the right way to go about things, she flung the covers off herself and leapt out of bed, landing on the laminated flooring like a cat; soundless and agile. She hurried over to her closet and dressed as quickly as her hands would allow.

She pulled on a black turtleneck crop-top she found at the back and white jeans, before running a brush through her wild mane of hair. Deciding she looked presentable, she walked to her bedroom door.

Her body stopped itself at the frame, her teeth biting in to her lip; was ignoring it really the right thing to do?

_Yes_, a voice said in the back of her head, _it is._

But as she began to walk downstairs, she couldn't but wonder what would happen if she didn't listen to that voice.

**:D**

**R&R!**


	15. Getting Ready For VidCon!

**Despite the Poll results, I feel as if the abysmal difference in choice doesn't really mean much at all. And I also received a very nice PM from another author, saying how they would like both ideas to happen. And I have to say, I agreed with them. So, I have become a troll and decided to merge both ideas anyway xD But I can guarantee they'll kiss at****…**** some point :L**

**Again, sorry if I disappointed you guys. Being a FanFic writer is hard, especially when you have loadsa people to please :LL**

****Also, I was reading through some other FanFics the other day, and found one that had a very similar scene to my 'Coffee One'. So, I just wish to say that I did not steal this idea; it was apparently mere coincidence. If this author happens to read this, I'm sorry and if you wish I'll rewrite it :3**

**Disclaimer: Don't own anything D:**

**Chapter 14**

The morning had passed in a blur of conversation and breakfast-making. The pair both acted like they knew nothing of what had happened yesterday, though both remembered. It was an odd situation actually; Toby didn't think Louise remembered, so he didn't say anything; whereas Louise remembered everything and knew Toby did too and also knew he was acting like it hadn't happened at all. It was a confusing thought, to say the very least.

It was now noon and the pair agreed that they Toby should probably get home now. Gryphon had been left alone for almost an entire day and (though he didn't admit it) the YouTube star was missing his dog. Greatly, as a matter affect.

So, for the umpteenth time, Louise led Toby to the door. He clicked his way down the steps, turned back, gave a little wave, and wheelied off down the street, nearly crashing in to a lamp post on his way. Instantly, Louise cracked up in to a fit of giggles, and heard Toby's faint voice yell "Stop laughing!"

"Never!" she yelled back, before finally closing the door. She took a breather from her giggles and tried to walk calmly to her house phone, but failed miserably. The giggles came back with a vengeance.

But they dissipated when the realisation of what she was about to do hit her like a freight train.

She was about to call Sarah.

For advice.

About love.

Oh Lord, help her now.

Her legs guided her automatically to her phone, a free hand running itself through her blonde hair, trying to pretend that she was ready for Sarah blabbering in to her ear.

She wasn't.

On the upside, however, she'd had the greatest night's sleep than she'd had in ages. The girl couldn't help but wonder if Toby's arms around her had helped her sleep any more peacefully than she might've done alone…

Eventually, she made it to the house phone and dropped to her knees beside it and punched in Sarah's number. It hadn't even rang once when she picked it up. She didn't even have a chance to say 'hello', because her friend's ecstatic voice beat her to it.

"How'd it go?"

"H- what?"

"This is Louise right?"

"Yeah, of course. Who else would it b-?"

"How'd it go then? TELL ME."

"What are you talking about?" Louise asked, wincing at the volume of her friend's voice.

"You and Toby of course! DUH! You two have been eyeing each other up since I first saw you two together-"

"Me and Toby?" Louise gulped. Had it really been that obvious? "Well, I was actually calling to ask you about something like that…"

"Oh my God what happened?"

"Uh,"- well, this is awkward- "I guess, um, he kinda stayed with me the night-"

"What did you guys do?"

"Nothing! At all, actually. Just talked. And-"

"And what?"

"Let me finish and I might tell you!"

"Oh right. Sorry."

"Well, I sorta had a nightmare…"

"Uh-huh."

"And I screamed."

"What?"

"I screamed. In my sleep. And Toby-"

"Go on!"

"-decided to come and comfort me."

"In your _bedroom_?"

"Uh, yeah. But he thinks I don't remember anything. I actually woke up this morning and-" she didn't want to go in to details, so she just went with, "he was still with me. He woke up though and tried to sneak out of the room."

"Please don't tell me you just let him _go_…"

"It would've been too awkward to confront him about it-"

"I love you, Louise. I really do. But sometimes you are just so… ugh! You shoulda grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him back…"

"…He wasn't wearing a shirt."

"..._WHAT_?"

And that was the general gist of the conversation: Sarah's incessant interrupting and Louise trying to speak in between the pauses. But the blonde haired girl still didn't tell her friend about those seven words. Those seven little pesky words. The ones that had caused this mess.

_"I think I love you, Toby Turner..."_

After what seemed like hours, she finally hung up the phone and put it down, relieving a huge sigh, closing her eyes. Now that she thought about it, phoning Sarah up hadn't been the greatest idea.

She stood, knees clicking horribly as she did so. Even as a nurse, she'd never really like the noises the human body made. Most of them were awful; made you shudder when you heard them.

Except Toby's snores. They were just plain adorable.

A reluctant smile spread across her features at the memory. Waking and seeing his face. Snoring, of course. Adorable.

Then again, what wasn't adorable about Toby?

_Nothing,_ a fiery voice said in her head.

And for a guy who plays videogames all day, he didn't look too bad without a shirt on either…

She bit her lip, feeling guilty as she relished the mental image that flashed in to her mind. What happened to the innocent girl that had been standing here a second ago?

Ehhh, she was never really here.

Thinking of nothing better to do, she walked back in to the living room and picked up her laptop, turning it on and clicking the little Mozilla logo at the bottom, before bringing up YouTube.

To her surprise, Toby had already posted a new vlog that he had apparently filmed on the way to his house from her own, titled 'GETTING READY FOR VIDCON!'

Curious, she clicked on it. Sure enough, her house was in the background, zooming out of view as he wheelied down the street, smile on his face. She even caught the last bit of her yelling "Never!" at him from her doorstep.

"Audience? WHA-?" he began, smile lighting up his features, "What are you doing travelling at high speeds down a street on wheelies? That's precarious audience-INTRO OF DARKNESS THEN REDNESS THEN WHITENESS." Louise smiled at his insanity. That was another key part of Toby. Without it he wouldn't be… well, Toby.

"Okay, so VidCon is coming up and I still haven't posted any videos for the past two days because of… well, I don't have a great excuse – oh, I know! Distraction! I get easily distracted- it's in my blood! Although, I don't see how distraction could be in your blood. That's like saying… some sort of comparison phrase that I don't know the description of yet. Heh.

"…What was I talking about? OH, VidCon right?

"So, VidCon is up in a few days and I'll be there with everyone else, doing the stuff we do –ooh, flowers! Can you smell them, audience? You might be able to if you had a nose – oh don't worry, it's not that noticeable! Besides, it doesn't matter if you have a nose – you're perfect the way you are girl – or guy, or both, or other."

He laughed, throwing his head back ridiculously.

"So yeah, hopefully today I'll get up a couple gameplay videos – Minecraft, Happy Wheels, maybe even Skyrim if I don't get lazy. But don't get high hopes, audience. You know how lazy I am.

"What? You're telling me I went off topic again? Oh wait, it's me telling myself I went of topic? That's ridiculous!

"But back to whatever I was talking about – VidCon, ah! Now, audience, remember the person who saved my life like, what, a month ago? Loubuscus?"- Louise's heart skipped violently in her chest- "Yeah, well, if she's watching this now, I hope she's gonna accompany me to VidCon! 'Cause otherwise I'll – well, I don't know what, but it's something horrible, I know that much!

"I should've probably done this in person, but eh. I'm someone who does things awkwardly – you shoulda seen my eighteenth birthday party. BAH!"

She saw in the background that a couple was walking behind Toby, looking at him strangely. By the angle of the camera, you could see that he had turned the camera to face them.

"Just talking to the audience!" he exclaimed behind him, "It's a natural occurrence!"

He turned back to the camera, an insane glint in his eyes. Did this man ever run out of confidence?

"I had better go now before I wheelie in to another lamp post. Bless your face. If you sneezed in this video, bless you. If you wanna enter to win a t-shirt, post a comment about VidCon, uh, distraction, laziness... Bless your face- again! Peace off. Ba da do do do do do subscribe – OUTRO OF DARKNESS THEN REDNESS THEN WHITENESS THEN… BOOP!"

The video blanked out and left Louise staring at a silent screen. So she was invited to VidCon, huh?

Well, of course she was going. The fact that it was with Toby made it even better.

Her mouse scrolled downward as she did what she always did on YouTube videos – see what the top comments were.

One, to her surprise, said 'YES, WE HAVE THE OLD BUSCUS BACK :DDD'

And the other said, "Whew, thought we lost you for a couple weeks there, Toby."

She wondered what these meant – he hadn't posted videos for a couple of days, not weeks. And what did they mean by 'the old Buscus'? Had something happened to him in those weeks?

Deciding to investigate, she clicked on the vlog suggestion that popped up on the side of the screen and watched. And she didn't like what she saw.

The video was around the time when Louise had just taken his last set of bandages off and gone home, and, although she didn't know it, leaving a disappointed Toby in her wake.

Throughout the entire three-minute vlog, you could tell easily that something was up. He lacked his usual spark of conversation and the smile he wore didn't reach is eyes. He barely even rambled, or laughed.

Soon, Louise came to realise that, up until this vlog, almost all of his vlogs had been like that. Dry and humourless.

She checked his other channels too, and soon realised (after furious clicking) there were no new videos or gameplays whatsoever. Not since she had gone in to hospital.

Had… had he really been that worried? For her?

In all honesty, she hadn't really pictured Toby as the pacing, worrying type. Yeah, maybe the caring, funny, hyperactive type; but the apprehensive type… that wasn't him.

On all of these videos too, there were comments like "What's wrong Toby?" or "Why aren't you uploading videos? Are you ok? :O"

Concern was etched in to every pore of her face. He had really gone in to a metaphorical coma, huh?

All because of his concern… it was sweet in a twisted way.

Automatically, her hand reached out to her table, ready to grab her phone and call him (they had properly exchanged numbers while she was at the hospital, much to the protesting of the doctors) but she stopped in her tracks. She didn't want to put him on the spot like that… Guilt already resided in her gut at the thought of the emotions she had caused him…

She'd just have to ask him at some point later on. When everything had died down a little.

Little did she know that nothing would be dying down for a long time to come.

**Yeah****…**** filler I know :[**** OH WELL**

**R&R**** please :3**


	16. An Evil Plan

**Hey guys ^^ Moar VidCon coming up :D**

**Chapter 15**

"We're going to ViiiidCon, we're going to ViiiidCon, we're going to ViiidCon…!"

Excitedly, Sarah leapt around the car in a tribal dance sort of way, holding her suitcase above her head and yelling the chant she had made up at the top of her lungs. Passers by looked at the brunette as though she were from a different planet. And if she was honest, Louise wouldn't be surprised if she actually was.

Although, it seemed Toby didn't care. He stared at the girl for a few seconds, before bursting out in to a fit of laughter. He would've joined in if Louise hadn't shot him a glare that could make fully grown, pro body builders quiver and run for their mommy's.

"Please," Louise began, pinching the bridge of her nose in embarrassment, "Can we just get in to the car?"

Toby (not wanting to receive another glare) edged in to the backseat of Louise's car, whilst Sarah continued her chant, louder than ever.

The YouTube star didn't see what happened next, but there was a yelp and it looked as though Sarah had jumped in to the front seat, trying to get away from something outside. She let out a deep breath and turned to Toby.

"She's freakin' crazy!" she whispered. The car boot slammed behind them, presumably because Louise had just unceremoniously chucked in Sarah's suitcase on top of all their other belongings for their three-day VidCon trip.

At first, Sarah and Louise had both been literally buzzing with excitement about the whole thing. Neither of them had been before, so naturally they bombarded Toby with questions, which he had willingly answered. Though he didn't admit it, recollecting stories from fun events like that were priceless. Especially if it involved someone getting drunk.

But during this entire morning of disorganised packing, unpacking, re-packing, forgetting stuff, feeding animals, placing them in to the care of family, re-fuelling the car, driving back to the house because they had forgotten something again had really pulled Louise's strings tight. She was more frustrated than… well, there wasn't a phrase able to describe how frustrated she was.

Suddenly, the door to the driver's seat was thrown open with such force that it might've come off if it hadn't been probably hinged on. Louise's familiar figure appeared, looking stormy. Even her grey eyes seemed darker and cloudier, unlike their usual piercingly clear colour of ash grey, the colour of the sky when the weather couldn't make up its mind.

As she sat heavily in to the seat, Sarah seemed to edge away from her a little, as though lighting might crackle from her glares a fry them all in to ashes.

_Heh_, Toby thought silently, smiling to himself, _Snap crackle DEATH._

"What are you so happy about?" Louise snapped irritably from the driver's seat, glaring back at him. Without realising it, the man recoiled too. So she really did have a fiery temper when she wanted too, huh?

Blatantly, she had seen she had caused discomfort to stir in Toby's mind. Her eyes softened a little and she mumbled "Sorry," under her breath, turning back to face the window-screen.

"For the fifth time," she began exasperated, "Have we got everything?" she asked, preparing to start the engine. The other two chorused a "Yeah," back at her.

"Good," she grumbled, the engine coming to life again, the air conditioning turning itself on as they began to drive.

A thick silence settled in to the air, which (regretfully) Sarah decided to break.

"And I thought I was bad when I'm PMSing…"

"SARAH!"

"Oh my God there it is! VIDCON IS HERE."

"I guessed, Sarah. Way to point out the obvious…"

This time, it was the brunette's turn to glare. Thankfully, the mood had become considerably lighter in the first fifteen minutes of their journey. It seemed Louise had wanted to blabber so much so they'd all forget the whole 'PMS' thing Sarah had pulled. Wisely, Toby had stayed quiet for the most part; he didn't want to have his head severed and put on a pike because he dared to interfere in the crossfire.

Sure enough, in the distance was the VidCon 'gathering place', or whatever it was called. The base? HQ? He really didn't know. Nor did he really care, but it was kinda weird to not know what the building he had been going to for the past however many years was called.

Soon, the ticket barrier came up. Toby was slightly weirded out. No fans had decided to bombard the car yet, as he had experienced a few times before. But then he remembered this wasn't his car. His car had been totalled many weeks ago, because he hadn't been paying attention to where he was going. People like him shouldn't be allowed to drive, he thought mentally.

But then he would've never met Louise. Silently, he thanked whoever owned that dog. He'd never thought he'd say it, but he was grateful that he had been in that car crash. He hadn't died, had he? It only gave him an awesome scar on his head (which was still there) and the opportunity to meet an amazing person.

Before he knew what was happening, they had parked. The constant rumble of the engine stopped and they all sat still for a moment, silent, bracing themselves for what was about to happen.

They nodded at each other and simultaneously opened the doors, a gathering of screams meeting their ears.

Toby was lost in a crowd of fans (mostly girls, Louise noticed with growing jealousy), the top of his head barely visible above everyone else's. Louise and Sarah were shoved aside as though they didn't exist, almost crashing in to another nearby car.

A huff escaped Louise's lips.

_Stupid fangirls. I was friends with him before I even looked at his videos!_

Shocked, the brunette turned to stare at her friend, still a little off balance from being shoved aside.

"Oh come on, you thought this wasn't going to happen, keeping in mind Toby has millions of fans worldwide?"

The fair haired girl didn't answer. It was better to skulk than be honest.

"Ugh, grumpy pants, come on," Sarah laced her arm through Louise's and began to steer her away from the growing crowd, abandoning Toby in its midst, "We can meet other people! Shane Dawson! You like him, don't you? I'm pretty sure he's here. And Fred! Heck, maybe even OlgaKay!"

Louise's eyes visibly brightened at that. She'd never really thought about meeting other people; she'd only been thinking of going somewhere with Toby.

Her drooped head held itself higher as she grabbed her car keys and pressed a button. Through the chatter, she heard a 'Beep!', meaning her car had locked, before dragging Sarah by the arm closer to the building.

She didn't need Toby to have fun. She could do it on her own.

A little spark of rebellion caught fire in her chest as she continued to drag Sarah along the car park.

Along with meeting the other people she admired, she might be able to test Toby on something she hadn't thought of before. She wanted to know if that emotion even existed in him.

Jealousy.

Her eyes gained the look of someone out to do something rebellious, evil even.

Yes, a jealous Toby sounded good.

**Whew, done and dusted! ^^**

**R&R please!**


	17. Consequences

**Hey guys! Hope you like this -slightly filler- chap! :3**

**Chapter 16**

Wonder lit both girl's eyes as they gaped at the sight they saw, the noise that met their ears and the bright colours that flashed nearly everywhere.

It. Was. _Amazing_.

Crowds bustled all around them, all undoubtedly dedicated YouTubers. Most had large cameras dangling from their necks and badge's with unidentifiable information scrawled on them, whilst some wore revealing costumes of game characters (even if it wasn't ComicCon, you still get people who do that for certain gamer channels). Plenty of familiar merchandise stared back at them, quite a few Tobuscus hoodies and t-shirts visible in the crowd. Music was blaring all around them, but from which direction they couldn't tell. Did it really matter though? It was easy to tell that fun times were headed straight their way.

Louise didn't know where to go first. So many corridors leading off to different places, events, heck, even people. But she knew in the back of her mind who she wanted to see.

Her quick eyes scanned around and finally found what she was looking for.

A group of at least sixty people were all trying to cram in to one section of the building, nearly all of them wearing a t-shirt that said something about Shane Dawson, or one of his characters (mostly Shanaynay ) plastered on the front.

A wry smile slid itself on to her face in a rare moment of mischievousness.

She knew she didn't have long to react, so she let go of Sarah's arm and disappeared in to the swarming crowd, leaving the brunette confused, looking around for her vanished friend.

When she looks back on this, she still has no idea how she managed it. But using her ninja-like prowess (a.k.a. shoving people out of the way without them knowing it) she made it through the huge gathering of people and made it close to the front, where she finally saw the twenty-four year old YouTube star.

He was sat on a raised platform at a table, signing autographs and giving random people hugs and high-fives (amongst other, weirder things) and just generally being his usual, epic, awesome self. A sigh of admiration slid from her lips. He was just so amazingly inspiring, rising up and becoming a somebody like he had.

Now, unlike Toby, she had known Shane Dawson existed on YouTube for a while. Since… well, she actually couldn't remember when, but it was a long time, that was for sure. She knew that she had been in his first ten-thousand subscribers, so it was safe to say that she was a fan. And, though she hadn't told anyone, she was actually wearing a Shane Dawson shirt underneath her hoodie, which had a cleverly illustrated, black and white Shanaynay portrait on it, with the caption 'FO' SERIOUS' in large black lettering underneath.

Luckily, Sarah had seen sense to prepare both of them for this scenario (it only made sense. They were at VidCon, after all).

Quickly, she pulled out a permanent marker and a digital camera from her handbag and snuck forwards in the 'line', pulling off her black hoodie as she did and tying it around her waist.

There were two security-type people either side of Shane, but neither one looked serious. Both were laughing and joking along with Shane and each fan that happened upon them, and she felt her confidence grow.

Wildly, she looked up from her place and saw that Sarah had played her part perfectly, just as Louise had known she would.

The brunette was far in the distance, behind the crowd of SDTV fans, standing right next to a very ruffled looking Toby, also surrounded by fans. He was smiling and randomly high-fiving people, but stopped as Sarah pointed over everyone one's heads at Shane. Toby looked up and Louise seized her chance.

She had been next in line anyway, so she didn't feel any guilt at all in leaping up on the platform, an idea popping in to her head at that moment.

She knew Shane had a girlfriend. But Toby didn't.

In the corner of her eye, she saw both Toby and Sarah recognise her as she went up in view. While Sarah energetically waved and nodded in encouragement, Toby's smile slid clean off of his face. Just as the fair haired girl had wanted.

Toby didn't like to admit it to himself, but he had never really seen Louise having any other friends or… liking anyone else who was the opposite gender. In short, he had naturally assumed he was the only guy she actually knew and liked. Only now was it dawning on him that Louise wasn't just his. She probably knew so many others. He just hadn't taken the time to ask.

"Shane!" Louise squealed as she walked in front of him, idea still bobbing around in her head as a bright smile lit up her features, as well as the YouTuber's.

"I'm a huuuuge fan...! You're videos are freakin' hilarious!"

Standing up, he leant over the desk and said. "Thanks. It's really cool that I get to meet all of my subscribers; I thought my mind was playing some sorta weird prank on me! But nope, youre all just as f*cked up as I am!"

She had expected his voice to be dull and a little cracked from all the people he had been talking to all day, but in fact it was unusually optimistic; happy too. Louise smiled back at him and pulled out her pen.

"You can say that again." She flashed a smile at him that (previously) she had reserved only for Toby. But if she wanted him to be jealous, she had to pull out the stops all day. This was just phase one.

Messily, a loose strand of hair fell in front of Shane's eyes as he leant a little more forward, and asked "Okay, so what d'you want me to do for ya?"

"Weeellll…" she began, walking forward and shaking his outstretched hand, "Could I have a signed shirt?"

In answer, he took the pen from her hand and raised it, silently asking where to sign. Daringly, she motioned from her neck line across. It wasn't exactly on her chest, but it wasn't exactly not on it either. But Shane wasn't fazed at all and signed away, giving the pen back to her in a trice.

"One last thing?" she asked in her most innocent voice possible. He looked back up at her and raised his eyebrows.

"Friend kiss?"

He shrugged and beckoned her over. They both knew it didn't mean anything, but once again, Toby didn't.

It was just a quick peck on the lips and both didn't make much of it, though there were numerous wolf whistles from the crowd. Hopefully he wouldn't get in trouble with his girlfriend for it; she'd feel so bad if she caused an argument between them.

She pulled away and thanked Shane at least six times, before walking off of the platform, saying loudly as she left to the crowd "I kissed Shane Dawson!", throwing her fist in to the air in celebration. She couldn't count how many people laughed or said something like 'You GO girl!' in their best imitation of Shanna. Louise laughed along with them and finally got off stage, looking over to Toby and Sarah as she did.

What she saw both pleased and made her feel bad at the same time.

Toby stood almost stoically, tight lipped, still staring daggers at the stage on which Shane sat, his crowd of fans seemingly invisible; they stood talking to each other, not really noticing the look on their favourite YouTuber's face. His green eyes seemed to burn alight with some unknown emotion in visible flames, flickering in his pupils.

Ah, so he could get jealous. Very jealous, by the looks of it.

Well, that was definitely something new to note down. The amazingly perfect Tobuscus could get jealous. You learn something new every day.

She meandered her way through hoards of people before finally reappearing at Sarah's side. She immediately squealed in excitement and grabbed Louise by the arms, resisting the urge to jump up and down.

"Man, you really did it! I never thought you would!"

She shrugged, and replied loudly, "Ehh,it was nothing. Shane is so sweet! Look, he signed my shirt!"

If anything, Toby's lips had gotten tighter at the mention of Shane's 'sweetness', but his eyes seemed to shoot flames when he saw where the marker had signed.

Challengingly, she raised her eyebrows at him and asked in a purposefully innocent voice "You alright Toby? Don't you like Shane or something?"

He didn't answer.

Pleased with her final affect, Louise looped her arm in to Sarah's and together they wheeled off in the opposite direction, one thought ringing around in her mind as a smug smirk tore across her features.

_Mission accomplished._

**Ooh, more jealous Toby in the next chappie, along with other YouTubers! :D**

**R&R please!**


	18. Memories

**Okay, so I know the meeting in this one is extremely short and not even thought in to, but it wasn't meant to be. This was meant to be a time for Louise to reflect on things. **

**Just telling you guys in advance! It'll make sense when you read on. ^^**

**Chapter 17**

It had been two hours after the whole fiasco with Shane. Both girls were still buzzing about it, and neither of them had seen Toby at all since then.

Louise had (unusually) dragged Sarah everywhere, to all sorts of events that were happening inside the building just trying to distract herself from the small drip of guilt that had been steadily getting larger as she repeatedly remembered the look on Toby's face. Her heart felt bad, but her mind was extremely pleased with itself. The conflict of emotion made her feel slightly sick.

By now, her feet were aching badly and all she wanted to do was to go in to her cosy little hotel room and sleep.

But was Sarah thinking this?

Of course not.

Abruptly, the brunette turned at an alarming speed and suddenly grabbed Louise by the shoulders and said loudly "Oh my God!"

Louise blinked back in surprise, loose hair falling round her face from the force with which Sarah had grabbed her. "What?" she squeaked, eyes wide.

"I can't believe I forgot about him!" Sarah added cryptically, not answering the girl's question whatsoever. Instead, the brunette just began to drag Louise away from the event they were currently attending.

"Oh come on…" she heard the brunette mutter underneath her breath, "He has to be here somewhere… It's VidCon for God's sake! Sure he's British, but he's been to L.A. and Florida before, so why not VidCon?"

"Uhmm… Sarah, you do realise you're talking to yourself, right?"

"Uh-huh." She answered, not caring that she was getting strange looks from everyone she passed.

"Oh good." Louise replied sarcastically, "So who are you even looking for?"

"Dan and Phil."

"Who?"

Words could not describe the glare Sarah gave her at that moment.

"You don't know who they are?"

"Why would I?"

"They're only the greatest people alive! Aside from Toby, of course…"

"Ok, who exactly are they?"

Sarah's furious steps stopped. She looked left to right; the crowd was still bustling, but it was less so, now that they had trailed off in to one of the building's many corridors, leading to separate events and other YouTube stars. The whole building was actually kind of confusing.

"Well, I don't really know much about Phil," Sarah admitted, mentally scolding herself for not checking out his channel sooner, "But Dan… is just plain epic!"

"He's smart, he's funny, he's socially awkward, he's-"

"What does he do? You're not giving me much to work with here, Sarah."

"Well," Sarah explained, starting to walk again, "He's pretty much a person who talks about his 'fail' of a life, his social awkwardness, near-death experiences, general creepiness on the internet and loads of other stuff! Also, what not to do in certain public places."

She let out a laugh as she said this, obviously remembering something in one of Dan's videos.

"So we'll see Dan, then I'll call Toby to meet us back at the hotel. I think that'll be enough for today."

Louise silently agreed, but that didn't exactly mean she was looking forward to seeing Toby. Wondering if he would be acting alright when they met up with him next, she allowed Sarah to drag her further, just going with the flow. She couldn't be bothered to put up a fight right now, she was so tired.

After several minutes of frantic walking, shoving, general rowdiness and arguing, the pair made it through the crowds and came to a secluded area. It wasn't showy like Shane's stage, nor was it as packed, but there were still quite a few people gathered.

Seemingly in the centre of the mass of people was a black haired youth no older than twenty-one. To Louise, he looked about nineteen, but somewhere in Sarah's recent muttering, she had heard her say something like 'He's 20, almost 21! I've been watching him from when he started his videos, though. He's amazing!'

She watched from the side-lines as her best friend ran and practically leapt on top of the poor boy. Looking a little alarmed, he began talking with Sarah, and both shared a laugh. A smile slid itself across Louise's face; it's about time Sarah had some real fun. She couldn't remember that last time she and the brunette had gone out like this. It had been too long that was for sure.

In fact… even she herself couldn't even remember going out like this, whether she had been alone or not.

The last time was probably before she had started her nursing course. Even that hadn't been anything special; just a night out in a bar to celebrate her being accepted in to the Charles Drew Medical University.

Since then, her life had been completely dry. She got up in the morning, had breakfast, showered and dressed, went to classes, before coming home, having dinner and going to bed.

With an agonisingly painful jolt, she realised she had been doing this for the past two years. The same schedule, day in, day out. No breaks except on weekends, when she just wonder around her house, wondering what to do.

In her mid-twenties, she had reached her peak in life.

Was this the way it was going to be from now on?

She knew why she had taken the course. It gave her security, a guaranteed income and it felt good to help people, but…

What if she was just slowly throwing her life away? This was who she was going to be for the rest of her life; a faceless, nameless nurse who appeared along with every other woman or man with the same occupation.

But then she had met Toby, and everything had suddenly turned up side-down, been shaken then put back again. She still remembered how she had found him, the car crash that seemed like eons ago…

_The click of her shoes sounded on the concrete sidewalk; even if they weren't heels, they still managed to make a considerable amount of noise. She still didn't know why, but she didn't really care; they were just shoes, after all._

_The morning was a cold one for L.A. Whilst warmer than some places, the inhabitants of this whole neighbourhood were complaining loudly about the weather and how it couldn't make its mind up. So, this made it even weirder for Louise, considering she hadn't taken her car. Something had stopped her hand grabbing the car door handle just as she had been about to unlock it. Still, she had no idea what. It was like her brain was trying to tell her something, like an answer to a question that she should know easily._

_So, she had just taken the slower way, telling herself she needed the exercise when loudly, the sound of breaking glass and the squeak of skidding tyres met her ears. A huge, black Alsatian dog nearly knocked her over as it ran past in to a black ally, letting out pathetic whimpers as it went. She leapt back and looked around, trying to see the reason the dog had been running._

_Completely and utterly totalled in the middle of the opposite sidewalk was a convertible car, tilted on to its side, having flat out crashed in to a fire hydrant mere seconds before. All the cars behind it were halted on the road, some drivers honking their car horns, while others had gotten out of their vehicles to see what the whole mess was about._

_The girl stared for a few moments as a black haired man daringly neared the car. He squinted in to the front window for a few seconds, before his eyes widened and he beckoned a woman (presumably his wife) over, and said loudly "There's someone in there!"_

_Another, slightly taller man walked over and joined the couple. He too peered in and leapt forwards. "We need to get him out of there! Someone, call an ambulance!"_

_Finally, a protective instinct seemed to rise up in her chest. Her medical abilities could make a life-saving change in this situation. She rushed over, as both men pulled the lifeless form of the driver out through the cars shattered wind-shield. There was a deep gash on his forehead, where dark red blood spilled down on to his pale skin. His eyes were fluttered shut and his mouth hung agape, as though the shock from the crash was still evident on his features._

_It was then they laid his lean form on to the concrete, and Louise decided it was her time to interfere._

_She moved forwards a nudged the two men out of the way, saying "I'm a nurse," as an excuse. She knelt beside the man and finally got a good look at him._

_His face was long, slightly over exaggerated with a long nose and (if they had been open) large eyes. But she didn't have time to get distracted._

_She laid two fingers on his neck, calling over her shoulder as she did. "Has anyone phoned for an ambulance?"_

_She couldn't help but notice that her voice was slightly panicked. She'd never really liked high-pressured situations, but becoming a nurse was slowly getting rid of that particular phobia. She still wondered why she had chosen the profession; people had told her it was the best thing, told her she was smart and such, but__…__ she couldn't help but feel it was the wrong choice for her._

_In answer to her question, a stranger from the gathered crowd exclaimed a "Yes!" at her._

_And now the waiting started. Her concerned eyes roved upwards at the gash, whilst her mind wondered what else could be wrong with him internally. Tentatively, her skilled hands reached up and sickeningly pulled the largest shard of glass from his head and placed it on to the ground. It had dug deep, but not deep enough to scrape bone, apparently. She took off her cardigan and folded it, before using the edge to wipe up most of the blood and pressing it to the large wound, hoping to stem the flow. Only now was she actually realising the amount of blood he was actually loosing. It was far too much; his blood pressure was probably decreasing rapidly. It was only a matter of time before-_

_Ah, there it was. The quickening of breath as his body tried to keep up with his frantically beating heart. It was obvious his chest too had been slammed in to the steering wheel; his entire body was trying to make up for the loss of blood by making his heart pump quicker to keep up with his rapidly deteriorating state._

_There was only one thing for it._

_She'd have to preform CPR._

_Abandoning all nervousness and skittish thoughts, she placed both hands over his heart and began to push down, remembering the crash course she had taken in this. Chest compression, five centimetres deep, 100 hundred per minute__…_

_But it wasn't working. His breathing was becoming unpredictable, infrequent even. First coming in short gasps, then long, drawing breaths._

_Deciding there was nothing else she could do, she bent over him and held his nose, so that no breath could escape from there, before placing her lips to his own and exhaling. She ignored the stunned gasps from the crowd; she was saving someone's life. Her embarrassment didn't matter right now._

_She continued the procedure for a good minute before his breathing finally began to pace itself again. Sirens were blaring now and she knew that he would be fine in a few more seconds. She leant back up on her knees and looked down at him, finding herself smiling as did so. He was cute, for a guy who had just been in a car crash._

_There was the sound of screeching tyres once again, and an ambulance parked up on the other side of the road. Two people came running out with a stretcher and a set of paddles. And behind them was someone the girl met nearly every time she visited the hospital. He was the same burly, stubble bearded man that Toby would meet one-day in the near future, but Louise didn't know that. She only knew him as Paddy, or Mr Filsworth, if you wanted it to be professional._

_She moved out of the way and let the medics do their job, while Paddy sent her a look that clearly said 'What're you doing here?' She looked back at him and shrugged her shoulders, mouthing the word 'Coincidence' back at him._

_Paddy looked left to right as though he was making sure no-one was seeing this, before jerking his head, motioning for the girl to come over. She obliged, just as the medics had gathered the patient on to the stretcher and jogged him back to the ambulance. She cast the man's limp form a concerned glance, before finally stopping at Paddy's side._

_Not stopping to chat, Paddy rushed in to the front of the vehicle, motioning for the girl to join him up front. The two medics had joined Toby in the back and before they knew it, they had driven off. Quick as that._

_And everything had escalated from there on out__…_

She blushed a little as she recounted the memory of giving CPR to Toby. He still had no idea she had done that, because she had been determined to keep it from him. And no way had she told Sarah. The fair hared girl would never hear the end of it if she had.

Her memory filled daze was shattered, however, when the brunette bounced back over and clicked her fingers in front of Louise's face. Said girl looked up, surprised to see her friend staring at her.

"Daydreaming, were we?" she asked, a badly hidden smile on her face.

Without knowing it, she replied with a "Yes" immediately regretting it afterwards.

"About what…?"

"Nothing."

Sarah rolled her blue eyes at her, before looping her arm in Louise's own and beginning to wheel her off in the direction they had came from.

"I'm just going to take it that 'nothing' means a certain, green-eyed YouTuber…"

Louise just laughed. No point denying it when it was true.

***looks at word count***

**Ohh my****…**** whoopsie xDD**

**R&R please!**


	19. I Can't Help It If I Feel This Way

**Nothing to say about this chapter ]**

**Disclaimer: I own the epicosity and plot and OC's in this story, but otherwise… nope ;_;**

Gratitude

Chap 19

The hotel lobby was one of those 'modern, stylized' type rooms. It was large, open space with wooden furniture and leather couches and whitewashed walls, with a built in, wall side bar to the far left, where a huge canvas painting hung overhead. Louise still didn't know what it was of, though; it just looked like random smatterings of paint.

She plonked down her suitcase on the floor near her feet, Sarah doing the same with her own and Toby's beside her. The fair haired girl had point blank refused to carry his, though she wasn't really sure why. Something about pride? She didn't know…

But whatever it had been, it had also made her refuse to call Toby and tell them to meet up in the hotel lobby. Sarah had just given her 'the look', before taking Louise's phone and dialling. The brunette didn't know exactly what was up, but she knew it was something about Shane…

Well, what else would it be?

Just as Louise let out an exaggerated huff and blew a stray lock of hair from her face, the glass doors to the hotel slid open, and Toby appeared, looking as though he didn't want to be seen. His appearance was a little roughed up too, like his hoard of fans had attacked him or something.

"Ah, there you are!" Sarah exclaimed, clapping her hands together, "We-" she took a look at Louise's face and quickly corrected herself, "-_I_ was beginning to wonder where you were!"

Toby looked up and crept forward, eyes still darting around. Can't be too careful where fans were involved- stalkers weren't beyond his experience. The thought still made shudders travel down his spine.

"Just shaking off the fans. They all want autographs and signings and-"

"Alright, we get it, Mr Popularity," Sarah interjected, "We know you have fangirls."

If anything, a sudden coldness swept over the blonde haired girl like a gale force wind, whilst she stood, forgotten, beside Sarah. A stony look set itself on to her features and her lips became tight.

_Fangirls…_

There was an uneasy silence as Toby's sights met Louise, remembering earlier. He didn't know why he felt so stung still, but some sort of reckless emotion had grabbed hold of him by the shoulders and wasn't letting go. It told him he was right, that Louise shouldn't be with anyone else, and –secretly- Toby felt he _was _right, as much as he didn't want to admit it.

The brunette looked between the two, the air seeming to solidify in to ice as she did. A nervous cough escaped her lips. "Um, I'll just go and get the uh... keys! Yeah, the keys! Can't get in to a hotel room without keys!"

And with that, she rushed off, leaving the two to their own devices.

Bad idea.

They stood awkwardly for a few moments, before Louise attempted a crack at conversation. Though she still felt angry at him for being… well, him, she still felt bad about making him jealous earlier. He obviously was new to that emotion, so it only seemed to make the situation worse…

"So," she began. He looked over and raised an eyebrow, giving a look that plainly said '_What do _**you **_want?'_

Immediately Louise's innards fired up, snatching the already thin cord of patiene that she had left. Why look at her as though she'd done something wrong? She was allowed to do what she wanted; how _dare _he look at her as though he was blaming her for having independence. Most people probably would've passed this look off with a shrug and a shake of their head, but not Louise. She was a very prideful person, and she hated people thinking they had control of her. Mason had implanted that loathing in her from an early age.

Completely abandoning the prospect of civilised conversation, her voice became a notch louder as she continued, stepping closer towards him.

"Why are you looking at me like that for? I haven't done anything wrong!"

People started to look over and stare, but Toby didn't notice. He merely gave a noncommittal grunt in answer, as though he didn't have to explain himself. Louise's irritation deepened in to anger. He was driving her insane!

""Ugh Toby, what is wrong with you? I'm allowed to do what I want!"

The last line sounded so childish it was unbelievable, but Louise had to get her point in to his thick skull. She was a free woman for God's sake!

"Tell Shane that too, I guess?"

Surprise lighted her features for a moment; she hadn't expected him to argue back.

He too now had stepped forward, but his arms were held stiffly by his side, fists clenched and close to shaking. No matter how angry he got, he would _never_ lay a hand on her. _Ever._

Louise didn't notice any of this though. "What? – No! Toby, he's a person I've admired for however many years- so if I get the chance to meet him I'm going to!"

She hadn't planned on this at all. A little jealousy never hurt anyone, but this was becoming a fully developed war. She'd never seen this side of him before. And she hoped she never would again. It was like a monster that she had created and couldn't control; it was destroying everything.

"Well, go meet him again then! Give him another kiss too, why don't you?"

He glared at her with intense eyes, whilst Louise looked up at him with disbelieving, confused ones. Maybe this whole thing had dug a little deeper than intended?

But Louise was right. She knew she was. She hadn't belonged or been in the control of anyone since she was fourteen. Her resilient will and bad memories had made sure of that.

"You know what?" she asked in a deadly quiet voice. He raised an eyebrow at her, unfazed, challengingly even. "I think I will! I don't belong to you,"-she prodded him in the chest- "or anyone else here, so I will! He's far better company than the likes of _you _anyway!"

Toby's face still remained angry and tight-lipped, but his eyes glimmered with hurt. Louise didn't care though. She wanted to get rid of the notion that he owned her, even if she was the one who had started this whole mess in the first place.

Roughly, she grabbed her suitcase off the floor and began to walk away, Toby hot on her heels.

"Louise-please, wait-I-I didn't mean-"

The tall girl turned and acted without thinking at all. She snapped around, blood pumping and raised her hand-

-And slapped him full across the face.

The already quiet room went (if possible) even quieter as the sound of the hit reverberated around the walls as he stumbled back, an amazed gape carving itself on to his features. He hadn't been expecting that at all.

With a final flourish, she turned on her heel and stormed away, trying her best to keep back the tears pricking her eyes. She didn't want him to know how bad she felt, how his eyes had gotten to her again. She didn't want him to know she was weak.

Abruptly, Sarah came in to view, keys jangling in her hand, smile slipping of her face as she saw Louise. Before the brunette even had time to ask questions, Louise had snatched one of the key from her hand and rushed out of the lobby, a strangled sob escaping her chest as she did.

Toby just stood there, watching the girl as she left with wide eyes, mouth still agape, not paying the slightest bit of attention to anyone else. His hand rubbed the side of his face absently. A bright red mark was still there, as well as a furious stinging sensation.

Anger flared too in his brain like a rapidly spreading wildfire. But it was diminished almost instantly by a blanket of guilt. As well as Louise, he knew she had been right. He had no right to tell her what she could or couldn't do- she was a fully grown, single, rebellious woman; therefore she made her own choices.

But the furious jealousy still burned like the flames of hell. How he wished it would just _go away._

The crowd around him was beginning the gradual crescendo of chatter again, after the recent, drama-filled event that had just taken place. Now they all had something to gossip about, and there was no doubt that this entire story would be plastered all over the internet in a couple days. The downfalls of being a YouTube star…

A long, heavy sigh escaped his lips. Things had to be made right.

He strode forwards after her, a plan formulating in his brain. An apology, but made... better. He knew how, and he knew a couple people nearby who could help him out...

He'd make it up to her. Though she'd have to apologize for the slap – she had a hard hit, after all.


	20. Author's Note Please Read!

**Hi guys! Now I know what you're thinking: 'Hey, this isn't a freakin' chapter! D:'**

**No, sadly it's not. I'm here today to deliver the amazing amount of stats you guys have given me! :D I never thought I'd ever get this much 0_0**

**So, without further ado, let's begin!**

**~STATS SO FAR~**

**Overall Views: ********4,417 **

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**Overall Reviews: 99 **

**Thank you guys ****_so much _****for these. It makes me feel happy and helps e provide more writing for you :D**

**Also, you ****_have _****to go and check out the song 'Infatuation' by Maroon 5 ****_right now. _****You'll see what I mean ;D**

**New chapter soon! ^^**

**-Gurrbill**


	21. Music To My Ears

Gratitude

Chap 20

Sunlight shone through the window of room 102 on the second floor of the hotel. The blonde haired girl rustled the quilt covers as she moved around in her sleep, the events of last night oblivious to her resting mind. She preferred it that way; it meant she didn't have to deal with a swirling, confusing vortex of emotions and thoughts that seemed ever present in her mind since she slapped Toby. Well, since she _met _him, really…

It was lucky that Sarah had booked three rooms instead of two, otherwise she would've been stuck outside the entire night; Louise hadn't opened the door for _anyone. _Her brunette friend had tried coaxing her out three times last night before finally giving up. Of course, the blonde haired girl had expected that. Anyone would've have from their best friend.

But it had really surprised her when an extremely nervous voice had slipped under the door at about midnight, a badly hidden plea overlapping in his vocals.

* * *

_She sat on the edge of her bed, toes just jangling on to the cold floor, making goose-bumps erupt from her neck. Always, she had hated the cold. Ever since she had almost drowned in snow back when she was little, she had loathed the chilliness. That was the reason she loved living in L.A. It was always warm, hot even.  
_

_Her entire body seemed to become an ice sculpture, however, when a tentative couple of knocks sounded at the door. She stopped moving a listened with all her might, expecting (and hoping) that it was Sarah again._

"_Uh… Lou? You there?"_

_Wrong._

_Remaining silent, she slipped off the bed in her pyjamas and quietly tiptoed closer to the door, barely daring to breathe in case he heard her._

_His feet shuffled nervously on the other side._

"_Well, if-if you are… I just wanna say I'm sorry for what I said…"_

_Still, she listened, head right at the door._

"_It was wrong… I guess? Ugh, I don't know what to say! Heh…"_

_She smiled a little at his awkwardness, hands straying close to the door handle. But she quickly stopped herself. She was mad at him! Livid! At least, she was meant to be… It was like a challenge she had to live up to; remaining mad at him. It was the way of the woman to be stubborn._

"_You might not even be listening, but I-I…"_

_Her heart stopped, wondering what he was going to say. But halfway through, he seemed to have a change of heart. _

"_I… just hope you heard what I said… I'll be, uh, going now…"_

_A couple steps later, she saw his shadow disappear from underneath the doorframe. A little sigh of relief emitted from her chest; she wasn't up to facing him yet. Or Sarah._

_But walking back to her bed, she couldn't help but ponder what he had been about to say…_

* * *

That situation had invaded the few hours of sleep she actually _had_ gotten in the form of relentless dreams. Toby wove in and out of them, sometimes on his wheelies (which would've been comical in real life), but then Sarah would randomly appear and start nagging her, in between gaps of utter silence. Altogether, very weird dreams.

She had been up until at least four am, some mysterious force keeping her from sleeping. It was like the whole world had been against her that night.

But now it was morning, and her gray eyes finally fluttered open, looking up at the white ceiling, a rare moment of blissful ignorance filling her mind, before she realised everything once again. She sighed and rolled over on the soft mattress, glancing at the little digital clock on the bedside table. In little red numbers, it blinked innocently back at her with a '11:42am'…

She stared at it for a moment, before flying up in her bed. It was almost midday! Had someone slipped her sleeping pills or something‽

_Sarah is going to be so angry at me for missing out half a day a VidCon… _she thought to herself as she sprung out of bed and straight in to the nearby bathroom, _ Oh well. At least I met everyone I wanted to meet yesterday…_

In thirty minutes flat she managed to shower, brush her teeth, wash her face, dry her hair, get dressed and have breakfast before rushing out of the door, her phone in her pocket as well as a handy marker and camera in her shoulder bag. Locking the room behind her, she ran down the corridor and practically flew down the nearby steps before bursting in to the lobby, out the front doors of the hotel and jumping in to her car. VidCon may not have been very far from here, but it was quicker to drive. Assuming the others had walked there already, she revved the engine and sped of down the road.

After the entire hassle of getting in to VidCon and parking the car, she finally walked through the doors of the huge building with a triumphant smile on her face. That must've been a world record or two broken for fastest 'waking up and getting out of the house' ever.

Her grin slid straight off her face, however, when she finally took in her surroundings.

It was a _ghost town._

Ten or so people pottered about in the corridors, looking at abandoned signing booths and such, but other than that…

The entire building was_ completely_ abandoned.

Where had all the YouTubers and their fans gone?

Looking around in complete astonishment, she didn't notice her friend sneaking up behind her. She could've jumped ten feet in to the air, however, when the brunette practically yelled in her ear to assert her presence.

"I thought you'd NEVER show up! I was starting to worry!"

Louise spun around and saw the other girl with a gleeful expression on her freckled features. Not only that though… her blue eyyes glinted with the same sort of look she had worn on the day that she had left Toby and Louise together that one night… Like she knew something that Louise didn't…

The blonde haired girl instantly became suspicious. Something was going on here and she was purposely being kept out of the loop…

Her mouth opened, but her forming question died on her lips as a loud sound started to hum through the buildings walls like a loud speaker was being absolutely amplified on full blast somewhere.

It was (at first) a quiet tune, and Louise naturally assumed someone was playing music loudly in another part of the building. But that assumption was blown out the window after about three seconds.

"_Baby, I don't want to spend my life on trial For something that I did not do …"_

Her eyes widened as she heard the lyric. Her head snapped around wildly and she listened closely, wondering if she had just imagined the voice she knew so well._  
_Silence, then…

"_And maybe if you stopped and looked around some time  
I wouldn't pass right by you_…"

She stared Sarah full in the face, who smiled knowingly back. Surely it couldn't be…?

"_Maybe it's because you are so insecure  
Maybe you plain don't care  
Maybe it's the chase that really gets me off  
I fall so when it's just not there…"_

It was!

"_Burn another bridge, break another heart  
Try again, it will only fall apart…"_

She was frozen to the spot, mouth agape for a few seconds, before trying to form words as another chorus struck up.

"_Infatuation  
Not seeing the rest of you is getting the best of me  
It's such a shame that you shot me down  
It would have been nice to be around  
I'm touching your skin  
If it's only a fantasy, then why is it killing me?  
I guess this must be infatuation…" _

Sarah completely ignored Louise's sputtered attempts at speech however, and instead grabbed the girl by the shoulders and began to steer her elsewhere in the building as another verse started up.

"_Try to put my finger on what burns me up  
It always seems to escape me  
And when you have decided that you've had enough  
Just tell me where I need to be…"_

Suddenly, Sarah made a sharp right turn around a corner, now dragging Louise by the arm, still following the amazing music down the hall.

"_Now her face is something that I never had  
To ever deal with before  
She left me with the feeling that she'd had enough  
And I'm the one wanting more…"_

Was she imagining this? Was she still asleep in her hotel room?

_"Burn another bridge, break another heart  
Try again, it will only fall apart…"_

The two finally reached the bottom of the stairs at the same time, Sarah now beginning to push open a rather large black door labelled 'THEATRE', as the chorus struck up again, now even louder than before.

_"Infatuation  
Not seeing the rest of you is getting the best of me  
It's such a shame that you shot me down  
It would have been nice to be around_ …"

Finally, the two burst in to the lobby, where the blonde haired girl nearly fell over at what she saw.

"_I'm touching your skin  
If it's only a fantasy, then why is it killing me?  
And I guess this must be infatuation …"_

On stage, in front of the entire crowd of VidCon-ers in the huge theatre, was a band. Spotlights were shining brightly on them as they played. Louise stared, awestruck. It was like a concert.

But it wasn't just any band. At the front, singing his heart out whilst strumming the strings on his guitar was Toby, green eyes aglow with an odd want, as though making music up there on stage was the greatest thing in the world, whilst people where making so much noise below him it was unbelievable.

He looked up and his eyes widened when he saw her at the back of the room. Many crowd members too, turned to see what Toby was looking at. Some even parted, leaving a narrow pathway up to the stage, whilst others murmured to eachother. One guy even saidd loudly "Isn't that the girl from one of his vids?"

As the man stared, he almost forgot to carry on playing, but his fingers worked automatically; after years of practice, they learn to do it on their own.

Before he sang the next lyric, an apologetic yet smug smile was on his face, which clearly said _Am I forgiven now?_

An amazed look stole upon the girl's features as she stared up at him, his voice filling the air again.

"_I'm so attracted to you…"_

Her heart could've done somersaults as he said that. The way he looked at her!

"_The feeling's mutual too…"_

A blush spread across her cheeks at that line. But she knew it was true.

"_And I get scared the moment you leave  
Get so hot I forget to breathe, yeah…"_

At this point, Sarah gave Louise a little shove and urged her forwards. The girl shuffled like a sleepwalker through the crowd, still not believing what she was seeing, or hearing. She moved past various people until she came close to the front of the stage. Toby still looked down at her, playing away.

He gave a little twitch of his head. No, he didn't want her to… go up there?

_"Infatuation  
Not seeing the rest of you is getting the best of me  
It's such a shame that you shot me down  
It would have been nice to be around…"_

He gave a little twitch again, and this time Louise obliged. He stopped playing his guitar for a moment and reached out a hand. She took and was filled with delicious warmth as a smile lit up her features. To think she had slapped him not twelve hours ago...

"_I'm touching your skin…"_

She stood in front of him now, smiling, not caring about the watchful eyes of the VidCon-ers, who were beginning a chant that sounded something like 'Kiss, kiss, kiss-!'

But this was their time; only they existed right now.

"_If it's only a fantasy, then why is it killing me?"_

He held both her hands softly, completely abandoning his guitar so that it dangled behind him on his back. She leant forwards on her tiptoes a little, as he whispered the last line to her, and her alone.

"I guess this must be…

Infatuation…"

With a gentle touch, his hand guided her chin upwards, to look up in to his own face, and, to his general astonishment, she made the first move.

The noise of whooping from the crowd didn't exist as her lips grazed his own, though Sarah's excited squealing could be heard a mile away, as well as the band behind them, still playing their hands raw. The music fitted the scene so perfectly, it was breath-taking.

The single action of her kiss alone caused fireworks to explode in Toby's brain. His rough hands slunk around her waist and pulled her closer, craning his neck as her head tilted slightly. She let her own hands wonder and eventually they found their way around his neck and through his hair. Knowing that she wouldn't pull away, he deepened the kiss, earning a light moan from the girl. He bit her lip softly and she found herself liking it more and more.

In the background, she could hear people going nuts; they obviously thought it was some sort of publicity stunt or something; I mean, who would've thought that _Toby Turner_ would ever be _kissing_ a girl live on stage in front of _three hundred peoople!_

But this was too real; all of it. The feeling of his hands on her hips, the sweet thought of _'It's about time…' _drifting through each of their minds…

It couldn't have been more perfect.

And neither of them would've have swapped it for the world.


	22. Whoa

**Hey guys! Hope you like this chapter! I just saw the amount of reviews the last chappie got (15 I think) and was completely astounded! Thanks so much :D**

Gratitude

Chap 21

"Hurry up, before they find us!"

"-Mob us, more like."

"Shut up and run!"

These words were uttered with an unmistakable laugh as the pair ran down the street, girl in front, dragging the tall man beside her along with an unmatched speed. Both were smiling, close to laughter, despite the imminent danger that lurked behind them. At least twenty or so people were power walking down the side-walk, some even running, to find the two people who had just disappeared from the VidCon stage. Well, they had actually disappeared from it hours ago (thanks to Jack) but the crowd was persistent. They obviously wanted to question what had happened up on stage; and neither Toby nor Louise wanted to answer those questions.

But since when did fans have consideration for the people they admired or their privacy?

They skidded round a corner and finally saw the nearby glass doors of the hotel, waiting already open, as though they knew the predicament that the newly found couple were in. With a flying leap, they practically flew in to the lobby and ran to the right, trying to get as far away from the clear windows as possible.

A large door labelled with a brass plaque proclaiming 'STAIRS' was shoved open and the two finally skidded to a halt in the dimly lit hallway, hands on their knees, lungs begging for breath, but shaking with laughter.

"Now-would've been- a great time- to be wearing - heelies…" Toby gasped between breaths, a huge smile on his face. He wasn't even sure why they were both laughing; something was definitely funny about the situation though. Looking back on it, it was pretty much _hilarious._

"Too late now, though." Louise replied, straightening up mid-laugh. Toby mimicked her motion, but he was still a little out of breath. Lightly, she punched him on the shoulder.

"You're so unfit."

He put on an 'affronted' face and held up his arms in a strong man pose. "How could you say that? Look at these gigantic muscles!"

She rolled her eyes at him, still smiling. It was unbelievable how he had fallen for her. Only now was she realising just how lucky she had been to get one like him.

"Well come on then, _Casanova," _she said, looping her small arm through his own, "No point going back outside to get chased again, is there?"

He loosened his arm from her grip and instead put it around her waist, pulling her closer. "Nope," he said quietly in to her ear. Despite herself, she shivered. He just had this… _effect _on her. She didn't know what to make of it. All she knew was that she liked it. _A lot. _

"Cold?" Toby asked, genuinely curious. The girl shook her head, before beginning to walk up the steps, his arm still around her.

In all honesty, the events of the past few hours were still buzzing around in her head like a nest of wasps; it just wasn't registering that Toby had organised that entire 'concert' for her, and her alone. Sarah obviously had been in on it, but since she had left the brunette in the crowd of VidCon-ers, Louise hadn't seen her at all.

They were walking steadily now, a pattern of taps resounding as they walked the wooden steps to floor two. Shaking a stray hair out of her face, she turned to the man beside her.

"How did you do it?"

Confusion crossed his features for a moment. "Do what?"

"The whole… concert. I don't se how you managed to organise it so quickly. It was brilliant by the way," she planted a swift kiss on his cheek, "Really romantic."

A wry smile curled itself on to his features as he fought a blush. He wasn't a school boy, for goodness sake! "Well, I definitely couldn't have done it without Jack."

"Jack?"

"From jacksfilms. Don't you know him?"

The first floor was approaching now, light leaking in from the cracks on the edge of the doorframe. What was with the amount of the artificial lighting in this place?

"Can't say I have. Isn't he the one who helped us… uhm, 'escape' the crowds?"

He let out a laugh. By 'escape', she meant running like headless chickens off stage whilst Jack had created a huge diversion in the form of blasting 'Take Off Your Clothes (Like Scarlett Johansson)' on the giant whiteboard screen behind the stage on full volume. It had momentarily made everyone jump, and when everything had settled again, Toby and Louise had mysteriously disappeared. It was actually kind of clever, if you thought about it.

"Yeah, him," he confirmed, "He was the one who managed to get the stage free for our performance too."

Jack had in fact done this by spouting a bunch of well placed 'exaggerations'; in other words, telling the organizers (Hank Green and his assistants) that it was a publicity stunt that would increase popularity, considering it had featured 'celebrities' performing live on stage. Somehow, it had worked and, well… the rest was history.

Louise's memory finally came back to her as she recalled her faint sighting of this unknown 'Jack'. Thick eyebrows, long brown hair and odd bluish eyes were what jumped to mind. She hadn't really been able to take in much more though, considering Toby had practically picked her up and bounded off stage to try and get away.

She'd definitely have to thank Jack at some point.

"So…" she began as the second floor doorway came in to view, "Maroon 5, huh?"

This time Toby couldn't help but blush and stutter a little. "I-well, uh…"

Finally, an opportunity had arisen for the girl to try out something different. Taking the initiative, she let another side of her personality take over. One side rarely ever seen by anyone. _Ever. _

In one swift, smooth movement, the girl managed to pin Toby against the wall, her body dangerously close to his and her hands against his chest. Long legs were against his own, and it took all of the man's will power to stop his knees from shaking. Hazel-green eyes widened considerably, as his face gained the expression of someone who couldn't believe what was happening, and was happy and surprised by it at the same time. Somewhere in his mind, alarm bells were ringing, but he couldn't concentrate on them while Louise was like _this_.

She brought his lips close to his own (no more than an inch away) as her hands inched up closer to his neck. In an unfamiliar voice, she purred "You know, you're adorable when you stutter."

"I-I am?" he squeaked, staring at her pale pink lips. So close…

Teasingly, she brought them closer and Toby felt himself lean in…

And just as quickly as it happened, she pulled away, causing him to stumble against the stairs as he stared after her. Her body was facing away from him now, but her eyes stared over her shoulder in to his own, glinting in happiness at the effect she was having on him.

"Yes," she answered, mischievous smile lighting up her features, before she walked out through the second floor door, hips swaying to some unheard tune as she did.

All he could do was gawp after her. Like an idiot.

_Good lord, when did her legs get so long? And what had that been about?_

Still he stood there, amazed by the blonde haired girl for the third time in the past three days. He shook his head, clearing some of the fog that had settled there, while the numb feeling finally evaporated from his limbs. He could walk again, even if his steps were misplaced.

One word: Whoa.

He'd never realized it before, but she had an effect on him. A devastating one by the looks of it.

But a devastating effect that was… good in some weird way?

It didn't make sense at all.

But had Louise ever really made sense?

And when he saw her dart around a corner, hair flying, as he ventured on to the second floor, he answered himself with a smile.

_No._

**Okay, so this was a filler (like most of this story xDD) But fear not! I am NOT done with these two yet! –evil manic laughter-**

**R&R please!**


	23. A Dire Situation

**Hey guys! Sorry for the late update; the dreaded writer's block struck once again! I knew what I wanted to write, but the words wouldn't come :[ But I'm back now! So enjoy~**

Gratitude

Chap 22

Once again, Louise awoke staring at her hotel room's ceiling as the sunlight drifted through the windows above, the constant roar of cars out on the street. She inhaled deeply, eyes fluttering closed as she let herself remember. There was a slight difference this morning; and a welcomed one at that.

Smiling to herself, Louise ripped the duvet off and got up, still in her spotted pyjamas. Running a stray hand through her un-brushed hair, she slid on to the ground. Almost silently, she made her way to the plain wooden door that lead to the small (and only) bathroom in the room, where the sound of running water was evident. Smirking, she pressed her slender hands to the door and, biting her lip a little, she pushed it quietly open and peered inside.

Sure enough, her Toby was at the sink, washing his face, boxers and a Machinima t-shirt adorning his crouched figure. Her gray eyes softened at the sight; she could get used to this every morning.

Yeah, she'd let him (or rather, _made_ him) stay the night in her room. But unlike the assumptions of Sarah, they hadn't... well, you know. Not yet, anyway.

Though there was a mirror above his head, he hadn't noticed the girl come in. He was too busy washing his face to pay attention to anything else. Not to mention he didn't know she was awake.

And, not for the first time, an idea popped to her mind.

Tip-toeing forwards, careful not to make a noise, she counted down in her mind.

_3…_

_2…_

_1…_

With a spring-bound leap, she wrapped her arms around his broad shoulders and yelled "HAH!" at the top of her lungs.

The immediate effect was hilarious.

Toby sprang up and Louise could've sworn he leapt two feet in the air. Water splashed everywhere and he nearly fell over because of the soaked floor. He span around, a wild look in his eyes and skidded to a halt, legs apart and arms held aloft for balance, staring around like a madman. His face was still sopping wet.

Louise (having seen the sense to move away after her little 'attack') was leaning against the doorframe, laughing her heart out at him. He was _ridiculous! _

As realisation dawned on the man's face, a mock-angry expression adorned his face, which made Louise laugh harder.

"You think that's funny?" he asked cryptically, reaching out at the still-running faucet behind him, "Well take _this!"_

And before she knew what was happening, she was being pelted with handfuls of water like they were bombs. She let out a strangled sound somewhere between a shriek and a laugh and ran out of the bathroom, feet also skidding on the floor, Toby hot on her heels.

"Agh, no no no no-" she screeched, as she ran around the still unmade bed. They ran in circles for at least a minute, until finally caught up with her just as she almost tripped over the leg of the bedpost. His arms grabbed her around the waist and completely took her feet off the floor.

The girl giggled. "Ah, no-no-no, Toby, put me down!"

He shrugged, smiling in triumph, "Okay."

His arms were suddenly tugged out from underneath her and with a flump she fell on to the mattress, hair in her face, still laughing like a madwoman. There was another flump from next to her and she looked up to see Toby lying next to her, eyebrows raised as if to say 'You thought you could beat me that easily?'

"Oh, shut it." She said lazily, blowing her hair out of her face, "I _let_ you win."

"Oh really?" he asked, a challenge evident in his voice. He shuffled a little closer.

"Yes, really. And you-" she poked him in the chest, "-know it."

He didn't reply, but instead raised his hand slowly toward her face, as if to cup it. But at the last second, he wiped it on her forehead; it was, of course, still sopping wet. The girl recoiled and slapped his hand away playfully as he began to laugh. Rolling to the side, she grabbed a pillow a promptly threw it in his face, before bouncing off the bed and looking back at him, hands on her hips.

Childishly, he peered out from the pillow as though he were looking over a fence, eyes wide.

"When you're quite finished being so childish," she said, still grinning, "It's time to get dressed."

He nodded in to the pillow, "Yes mother."

She just rolled her eyes at him before venturing back in to the bathroom, yelling out behind her "I mean it!"

Then, she shut the door. But she still heard him rush off of the bed. Sighing, she smiled to herself.

She could _definitely_ get used to this.

* * *

The trio stood outside the doors of the lobby, bags at their sides, seemingly more full then they had been when they had first got here. To be honest, nobody could be bothered to fold everything and put it back neatly, like they had first packed it. All their clothes were just dumped in pile in the bottom of their suitcases like garbage.

They walked simultaneously to the silver car parked a few metres away just as its trunk popped open. Handing all the suitcases to him, Toby quickly dumped all of them in the back, before everyone bundled in to the car. Louise ignited the engine and once again they were off.

It was quite funny, actually, to see Toby vlogging in the back, talking to himself. He was yammering away so animatedly it was as if there really was an audience there, and Louise had to refrain bursting out from laughing quite a few times.

But, unusually, Sarah hadn't uttered a word all the way home, even when Toby had been vlogging. An expression of utmost sadness was displayed on her features, which only seemed to get worse the further the pulled away from VidCon. Louise couldn't really blame her though; it had been extremely fun. Not to mention how much the brunette had been looking forward to it. The blonde haired girl had already tried to comfort her with "We'll go next year too!" but it hadn't worked at all.

So, naturally, it was a surprise when Sarah finally piped up from beside her.

"Could we stop off at Union before we go home? I kinda… spent all my money."

There was a hint at a laugh in her voice. Well, some improvement was better than none.

"Sure." Louise agreed from the driver's seat, "You know the way, right?"

The girl could see her best friend nod in the driver's mirror.

"Lead the way then!"

* * *

After much arguing, getting stuck in a dead end, taking two wrong turns and almost crashing in to a lamp post, the three arrived outside the ugly skyscraper bank. It was, in Louise's opinion, a horribly boring, rectangular building that ruined the skyline. But what else could be expected from a bank? It was made to be purely functional, not for decoration…

They made their way in, fluorescent lights meeting their eyes, the ringing of phones and the constant clicking of keyboards. Along the wall in front of them was a row of little booths, each holding its own worker behind a pane of plastic window whilst customers lined up in front of them, most looking impatient at the fact of having to wait for eons just to get a bit of money.

Ah, the chores of the wealthy…

Sarah bounded up to the line to make sure she wasn't beaten to the queue by a balding man in a smart looking business suit in his mid-forties, who looked affronted as the brunette leapt in front of him. Louise subconsciously smiled; she'd had always had a hate of snobby people; especially those who looked down on others, like they were better than you. She'd never liked that in a person.

Abruptly, Toby spoke up from beside her. "May as well go wait with her," he began, before putting on a high, posh voice, "We must look like _peasants_ sat on _these _seats."

The blonde haired girl tried her hardest to not laugh, failing miserably, "Shh, people are staring!"

He looped his arm through her own and stood, his 'posh' voice still loud enough for all to hear "Let them stare, darling. We have no time for these impudent urchins!"

This time, she couldn't stop herself from giggling outrageously as they joined Sarah in the line, annoying the balding man even further.

"Nice one, Toby." Sarah said to them, also giggling. In reply, he flashed a bright, mischievous smile. This was his forte. No shame!

They had been waiting at least ten minutes now. Even Louise was starting to get a little fidgety, but Toby was still babbling away, grin clear on his features as he realised how many snobs he was annoying.

The smile slipped clean off of his face, however, when a large bang was heard as the front doors were slammed open so hard that they hit the wall and rebounded. He turned towards the noise, instinctively holding Louise tighter to him as he did so.

He was not the only one who had turned. Numerous gasps issued from the appalled mouths of the public as the reality of what they were seeing hit them each like a ton of bricks, Toby included.

At least a group of five men in masks were stood at the door, the leader pointing a gun high at the crowd. A moment of stunned silence rippled through the air, before his rough voice echoed out across the first floor.

"Everybody get down on the floor, or I'll blow your brains out!"


	24. Saviour

**Not giving anything away :D**

Gratitude

Chap 23

It all happened in one big spur of movement. Before it had even registered in the girl's mind, she had been grabbed around the waist and pulled to the ground. From the sounds of the grunt beside her, Sarah had been given the same treatment.

Still on her knees against the cold ground, her confusion deepened further as the bright lights in the bank flickered and died out. The constant ring of phones vanished and an eerie, half-darkness engulfed the room. Though it was midday, this particular building had very small windows. Not much light got in at all, let alone when there weren't any lamps…

Next to her, she could hear the heavy breathing of Toby as he clutched her close, he too looking up and around. He scanned the room as his eyes adjusted to the new light setting. Everyone had fallen to the ground and was either clutching their companion close or had their hands over their heads. There was even someone quietly sobbing in one corner, but Toby couldn't pay attention to them now.

Finally, his sights rested on the leading figure of the group of robbers, who had now moved forward as one in to the centre of the large room. The leader was still holding a gun high, and even through his mask covered his whole head, Toby knew the man had a smug look on his face. Smug at the fact he had just completely taken over one of the biggest banks in L.A., with approximately one-hundred hostages and truckloads of money to be grabbed.

Yeah, a good reason to be smug.

"Now then," the leader said, his voice lowering like his gun as he stepped forward. Steel capped boots sounded much more menacing when they were on the feet of a man who could take away your life at any second.

"Any one so much as makes a squeak, you're done for. And don't even bother sweetheart," he continued, turning and looking directly at a cashier who had just crouched down to see if she could reach for something underneath the desk she was at, "Generators are out. Silent alarms aren't gonna work anymore. Sorry about that. Now get out from behind that desk. Where I can see you."

He motioned with his gun to the floor in front of the desk, relishing the fact he had this amount of power over everyone here. It was like being his own King; a little taste of power was so good sometimes.

The woman gulped and obliged quickly, ducking down like everyone else, hands over her head.

The leader seemed to swell a little in triumph, stepping around people on the floor once again, the clicking of his shoes the only sound.

"You and you," he pointed at two of his men, "Take someone with you each and barricade both staircases. Don't want any unwelcomed visitors from above."

The man then stopped, and addressed his hostages. "I don't want any funny business. So if you all be kind enough to get out you cell phones and put 'em on the floor in front of you. If I think you're hiding one from me, I'll _personally _check. And you don't want me doing that, do you?"

There was a loud rustle of clothes, then an equally loud chorus of clacks as cell phones from the pockets of everyone clattered on to the floor.

"Ah, good. No fighters? Even better. I suppose you're all quite scared, aren't you?"

No one answered.

"I _said_," he repeated forcefully, "You're all quite scared aren't you?"

A smattering of 'Yes's were thrown at him.

"Well, no need to worry your little cotton socks," the leader began, still circling. The tapping of his boots were like a clock; slowly ticking away the time they all had left. The clock of death. He continued to speak as though he were trying to explain something complicated to a toddler, "I won't kill anyone. I only shoot when someone annoys me. Which could actually be anyone here. I get annoyed _very _easily."

Seemingly frozen, Louise stuck to the ground like glue throughout all of this, her hand squeezing Sarah's own next to her, only leaving as she flung her cell phone from her pocket. But it was only after he stopped speaking did she realise who it was beneath the mask.

It was so obvious, it was unbelievable. Her heart beats became much faster and she couldn't stop herself from shaking.

_Why couldn't he just leave her alone?! For once in her life!_

Her shaking form didn't go unnoticed by the man next to her. Holding her close, he whispered to her. His voice was so quiet that she wouldn't have thought he had spoken if she hadn't seen his lips move.

"It's _him, _isn't it?"

Against his form, she nodded, shaking beginning to calm down. She wasn't alone. Not anymore. They'd all be fine-her, Sarah, Toby- they'd all be _fine._

But her beating heart told her otherwise.

"Well, ain't you a beauty?"

And, if timing was anymore perfect, just as the instinct of unease had risen in her throat, Sarah's hand was ripped from her own. The blonde haired girl turned and saw that another robber who had been patrolling the fallen rows of people had grabbed her best friend by the shoulders and pulled her roughly upwards. The horrified girl let out a yelp, but was silenced when the criminal placed a gloved hand over her mouth.

"Hush up, missy. We're the ones with the guns here." He uttered this subtle threat with a menacing leer, before turning to look at his leader, "Hey Boss?"

'Boss' turned, and instead of showing the slightest surprise at the fact one of his men had a girl in his hands, he asked, "What now, Zimmer? Can't you see I'm in the middle of a robbery?"

Zimmer bowed his head humbly, "Sorry Boss, but I just wanted to clarify somefin'. Din't you say I could have me pick?"

Impatiently, Boss nodded. "When we're done. Just don't let her out of your sights. Or hands for that matter," Boss let out a bark-like laugh, "we know how slippery women can be."

Catching on, Zimmer too laughed, Sarah still in his hands. "You can say that again."

While this banter went on, a conflict of emotions and impulses arose in Louise's mind. She was angry. Anyone would be if their best friend was being treated like a sack of meat on sale. But she was scared, guilty for not being able to help her.

But the last shred of self-restraint snapped when Zimmer attempted to drag the brunette away.

Without even realising how or why she was there, she was suddenly wrestling with Zimmer to get Sarah back, making an ear-splitting racket as she did.

"Let her go! Let her go-you-you-bastard!"

And that's pretty much when all hell broke loose.

Everyone was trying to get someone off of someone else. Louise was clawing at Zimmer's face trying to free Sarah from his grasp; Toby was attempting to pull Louise back whilst trying to keep Zimmer from attacking anyone; Zimmer was trying to pull Sarah away, trying at the same time to bat Louise away and Sarah was desperately trying to free herself.

They all froze mid-struggle, however, when a gunshot sounded through the air. Four faces stared in the direction of the sound and found Boss walking deliberately slowly toward them.

"Well, isn't _this _a surprise? Zimmer, let the girl go."

"But Boss-"

"Don't question me!" he yelled at Zimmer, who seemed to shrink a little before flinging Sarah from his grasp. Clumsily, he slunk backwards as Boss strode forwards toward Toby and Louise, who were both clutching to each other as though their lives depended on it.

"Don't _you _look familiar, hm?" Boss asked mockingly, looking directly at the blonde haired girl. But she didn't shy away; she stood firm, head held high. She wouldn't show how scared she was of him; he didn't deserve the satisfaction.

Toby's eyes widened as he began to try and make out what Mason was planning. For the sake of his identity, he wasn't referring to Louise as his daughter. He was acting as if he didn't know her. Which meant he was planning something.

Holding the girl close, Toby finally found his voice, unusually loud. Commanding, even.

"You don't touch her."

A chuckle resounded from behind Mason's mask. Holding his gun, he pointed it right at Toby's face as he stepped forward, his free hand reaching toward Louise. In a ridicule-type way, he leered at Toby.

"Have we met?"

Heart racing, the green-eyed man tried not to show any fear as he glared back. But this proved difficult, considering he had the barrel of a revolver gun aimed right between his eyes.

There was a moment then. A silent one that seemed to go on for years as both man stared each other down, a challenge in both sets of eyes.

Who was going to make the first move?

The burning question was answered almost immediately.

Mason's hand tightened on the gun trigger and Toby tensed, bracing for the impact. But at the last second, the convict directed it at Louise.

"You're not worth my time anymore, you little bitch."

It seemed that everything from there on was in slow motion. Mason's gloved hand pulled and with a resounding bang, the gun fired it's deadly bullets.

And Toby did it before he could even think, a primal protective urge shooting through his chest. He wouldn't let her down again. He wouldn't fail her. She was his to protect, his to keep safe.

He leapt in front of her and knew nothing else but pain from that moment on.

Excruciating pain.

It exploded in his side and knocked him to the ground, where everything became a blur and muffled.

But what made it worse was when someone hit him in the skull with something hard. Metal, maybe?

His mind wasn't working properly to figure out what it was. A black, velvety darkness had already began to envelope his mind. He knew not what happened afterwards, nor did he know what had happened before.

In fact, he didn't know what had happened at all.

He… he…

He couldn't remember.

Anything.

And that was when he lost full consciousness.


	25. Faded

Gratitude

Chap 24

A wretched, desperate scream was wrenched from her chest as she saw his body fall limply in front of her. With a resounding flump, he landed at her ankles on his side, hands clutching his wound, gasping desperately for breath. He was in pain. _So much pain._

She dropped to her knees beside him, cradling his head with her pale, shaking hands. Anger burned in her eyes as she looked back up at Mason, who also seemed surprised by Toby's actions. His gun was held aloft, but he wasn't shooting. He just stared blankly, trying to figure out what had just happened.

Before any of them could say anything, however, Zimmer ran past in a panicked way, arms flailing.

"You said you wouldn't kill anyone!" the robber yelled, pointing at his boss accusingly as he ran to the doors, nearly tripping over the still crouched people on the ground in the process, "You said you wouldn't! You said you wouldn't!"

And with that, the panicked man ran straight out of the hotel, still yelling nonsense at the top of his lungs. The other robbers stood at their posts for a few seconds, before they too ran. This hadn't been part of the deal. Money was one thing, but actually killing people was pushing it too far, and neither criminal could take it.

"Come back here!" Mason bellowed after them, a powerful anger resonating in his vocals, "Trigger! Zimmer! Get back here! We're not finished!"

The leader let out a growl of frustration and turned back to his daughter. "This is all your fault!"

With one almighty swing of his arm, he launched the heavy revolver at Toby, before running after his men and disappearing. The gun hit him squarely in the head. There was a crack and Louise's eyes widened. If it was possible, Mason had just made Toby's condition much worse.

She held him closer as the reality of the situation hit her.

Toby had just gotten shot.

His pulse was slowing.

His breathing was slowing.

Her Toby was _dying._

She leant over his still form, laid upon the ground like some pitiful rag doll, tossed aside as though he meant nothing. But he did. He meant _so much_; to the world and, most importantly, to her.

People were beginning to gather around the pair on the ground, some picking up their phones and dialing for medics, others just looking appalled as Toby's blood spilled upon the floor. But Louise paid no attention to any of them. All that mattered now was her Toby, lying on the ground, his eyes closed as if he were sleeping.

"No no no no no…" he pleading voice whispered at him, her delicate frame leaning over his own lean one, hands cupping his face, "You'll be fine. Finer than fine, you'll be great… I know it…"

But the blossoming crimson stain on his shirt told her otherwise. It spread sickeningly slow, as though drawing out the dying man's final moments just for the hell of it.

How had everything turned so dire in the past few minutes? Just a moment ago they were all smiling, laughing as Toby was his usual, happy, energetic self…

Tears fell fresh on to her face, they shimmered in the sudden burst of sunlight that shone through one of the small windows. If he had never met her, never got in to that _stupid _car crash, he wouldn't be… wouldn't be…

Dying.

In her arms.

In that one despairing moment, her mind flew back through the memories they had shared in the few months they had known each other.

The first words he had said to her when he woke up in the hospital...

His eyes messing up when he had come home… she could've laughed at that one, if the situation hadn't been so dire…

Her 'piano' lesson…

How he had protected her that one stormy night, so long ago, even after she had rejected him…

The argument at VidCon… she still felt so bad for that…

The feel of his lips on her own…

He had waited… waited for her… and she never gave in to her disbelieving self…

How she hated herself for it now! All those _wasted _moments! _Wasted_ time!

He had made her laugh, made her cry, made her so confused, so frustrated that she just wanted to yell out in anger. He'd been able to cheer her up in the most depressing situations even when he hadn't probably wanted to at all…

But he had stuck with her throughout it all. She had saved his life, and now he had returned the favour. Twice.

Using himself as a human shield…. Taking a bullet for her… He really did care… He had done since she had met him.

Suddenly, a hand gripped hers tightly, as though it were the only lifeline to this world. She looked down and saw him looking back up from her lap, hazel green eyes glinting with some unknown emotion. It was as if he was… confused? Looking at her as if he didn't know who she was.

Her eyebrows arched in concern, as her gray eyes sent silent messages.

_You'll be fine… You'll be alright…._

But he still looked at her as if she were a stranger. It was like a veil had been put over his eyes; their usual glint wasn't there. It was like something was missing.

Her mind flew to what could possibly be wrong, but she didn't want to be right. It was too cruel… He couldn't die without knowing who he was… or who she was… or why he was even dying…

Abruptly, the man tensed forwards in her arms, letting go of her hand as he clutched the bullet wound. A grunt of pain was loudly audible, and a new wave of tears found themselves pricking at the girls' eyes.

"Shh…" she whispered as he rested back on the floor, eyes beginning to close, "Don't give up on me, Toby… You can do it… Come on…"

His body disagreed however.

Toby's resilient will had finally begun to succumb to the peaceful, painless darkness that had been eating at the edge of his vision for the past five minutes. Breathing slowed so much it practically didn't exist, his lashes closed and his head flopped back on to the cold floor. He had finally crumbled, fallen like a ton of bricks.

Louise shook her head, not wanting to believe what was happening. Toby wasn't dying. He was _Toby. _Irreplaceable, unmoving, always there… He couldn't just… die.

But his last ragged breath proved her wrong.

He faded, then and there.

Just like that, eyes closed so peacefully that he might've just been sleeping, ready to jump up and make her laugh again in an instant.

The girl did the only thing her mind could comprehend at that moment.

She broke down.

Her thoughts were too distraught to even hear the sirens of ambulances in the nearby street.

So much hurt… It drove through her chest like a steel needle. It was a pain beyond anything she had experienced before. It was worse than the beatings… it was worse than the cuts and broken bones...

Love hurt like this?

Dry sobs began to wrack her body. She couldn't believe it… She wouldn't…

Toby was gone.

Gone.

And this time, he wasn't coming back.


	26. Dreaded Thought

**Omygosh, guys, you'll hate before saying it, but I loved the reception for my last two chapters ^^ I can't count the amount of death-threats I got 0_0 (I'm looking at YOU, hunterofartemis69)**

**Ah, but I kid, I kid. Death-threats mean I'm doing a good job! :D **

**Disclaimer(haven't done this in a while): Don't own anything Copyrighted in this, or any other chapter of Gratitude.**

Gratitude

Chap 24

Blank paper. That's what stared back at her.

Blank, meaningless paper.

A void of empty white. It was the only thing that reflected exactly how she felt. How she had felt for the past two days. The past two days since then. The _event_. She refused to acknowledge it in her mind, refused to even think of the colours of the walls in which it had happened. It was too much pain, too much guilt, too much of anything to bear.

So she sat silently at on her sofa, staring at the piece of paper on her lap. Innocently, it stared back, refusing to give any answers. Usually, it would. Usually, it would inspire her to create something beautiful, something to take her mind of things. But today, the pencil lay in her hand, motionless after hours of staring.

The inspiration just wouldn't come. The lines and curves weren't being drawn.

Just emptiness.

It was exactly she had felt when they had taken his body in the ambulance, attempting to revive him, even if for only a few moments. But it was all in vain.

Louise hadn't dared follow them to the hospital. She hadn't wanted the fact that he was dead to be clarified. She didn't want it to be officially known. The little shoot of hope in her chest was kept alive by this one little action. She had done this before; ran away from something she didn't want to believe. But slowly, the little shoot of hope was dying out as the fair haired girl waited for the day Sarah would knock on her, look sadly in to her eyes and tell her the two words she didn't ever want to hear.

'_He's dead.'_

The thought of it brought tears to her eyes. They dampened the paper she held, glossing it over like it had been outside during a particularly nasty storm; like a sheet of glass misted over by fog. Pale, cold, almost unforgiving.

Of course she had cried. She'd cried on and off for the past two days. Just at the thought of those two words she never wanted to hear, but would one day have to. In between these outbursts of tears, she would wander around the house like a pale ghost, lost in the world of the living, not really knowing its place or where it was supposed to be. It was an awful feeling; a feeling of nothing.

Just… _nothing._

So naturally, just to occupy herself, to fill the empty void, she had picked up her reliable sketchpad, a pencil and a rubber and waited for her imagination to guide her hand like it had done so many times before.

But it just wouldn't come. Along with her broken heart, Toby had taken her happiness. Purely because he _was _her happiness. He was her saviour, her shining star, her protector all in one. His shoulder was hers to cry on and he would be there in the darkest of times, there to make her laugh, make her feel special, wanted. Like she was loved and cared for.

And now he was gone, leaving her trapped in her own bubble of misery.

She'd carry on though. It was what he would've wanted.

Numbly, she was brought out of her train of thought and recollections as two muffled thumps came from her front door.

Her heart plummeted.

It was the scenario she had been dreading.

Sarah was here to tell her those two, devastating words.

Dropping her wet sketchpad on to the sofa, she stood and walked out in to the hallway. Toby had run through here once, running to protect her from her own father even after she had sent him away. He had come to her aid almost immediately.

Blasted tears!

Wanting to get it over with, she walked quickly to the door as Sarah began pounding on it louder, yelling "Open the door! Open the door Louise! Quick!"

"Yeah I'm coming." She replied in a cracked voice as she began to unlock the door. How Sarah sounded so normal was beyond Louise. She sounded almost… happy?

Finally, the door swung open and Louise was almost crushed by her friend's arms as they hugged her tight. She pulled away, grabbed Louise's shoulders and subconsciously shook them.

"He's alive! Oh thank God, he's alive, Louise!"

Louise just stared back, trying to process what she had heard.

Toby was… alive?

…

Toby was alive!

A bright smile lit up her features as she began to stutter in shock, finally coming out with something in understandable English.

"He… he's alive?! But… but how?" Louise had been sure he hadn't been breathing after he had closed his eyes as he lay in her arms, but… had she actually checked? And if she had been too distraught to even notice ambulance sirens blaring outside, what else had she not noticed?

Her excited thoughts stopped as Sarah answered her question

"Apparently he took up at least eight bags of blood before he even woke up. The Doctor said, and I quote, 'I don't understand it. A gun shot like that surely should've killed him. That boy must have someone to live for.'"

She smiled knowingly at this part. And like a fool, Louise grinned back.

"Well, what the hell are we waiting for?! Let's go!"

* * *

The ride to the hospital was a bumpy one, that was for sure. At some point, Sarah read the speed dial near the steering wheel and was shocked to see Louise was going at one-hundred and ten miles per hour. Though it was down a highway, it was still fifty miles over the speed limit.

_Ah, young love. _Sarah's mother would've said.

But after parking the car, running in the halls of the huge building, asking for directions and an all manner of other things, they finally made to where Toby was situated.

And as they waited, sat in the hospital chairs quaking with unsaid things, and all number of thoughts ran through both of their heads.

But a more important one was flowing through Louise's mind.

It was a more prominent thought than the happy glee that seemed to have invaded her mind at the mention of Toby being alive. It was the thought of what she had seen as she had held him in her arms as he lay dying on the bank's floor.

The vanished glimmer in his eyes. The confusion on his face as he lie looking up at her, as though he had no idea what had happened or who she was.

She was worried. What if it meant something? What if it was-?

"Miss Walker and Miss... Mekwa-uh ...Meoquanee?" the nurse calling out this name looked up on confusion, but Sarah merely smiled. She got it all the time. But that's what you get from having Native American ancestors; one weird last name and a lifetime of mis-pronouncing it.

The nurse continued. "You're free to come in now."

Louise read her name badge 'Nurse Jenson'. Ginger hair was bright in her head and pulled in to a tight bun. She wore a smile on her face, but it didn't reach her eyes. It was a sad smile. And immediately, Louise began to think her theory was true.

But oh, how she didn't want it to be.

As they walked beside the nurse down the long corridor, there was a silence that was neither awkward, nor comfortable. It was like it was an awaiting silence. Almost like anticipation.

Finally, they stopped outside a closed door, leading to room 182. The nurse halted them, however, just as Sarah reached for the door handle.

"Ladies," she said, smile gone now, replaced by a pure look of seriousness, "I'm afraid this meeting is going to come as a bit of a shock."

Completely oblivious, Sarah spoke up. "Of course it is! Toby's alive; that's a shock itself!"

And not waiting for permission, the brunette shoved passed the nurse in to the room. With a fleeting apologetic look, Louise followed her friend.

The room was like any other. White walls, white bed, white sheets, white… everything. Couldn't they ever use some decoration in these places?

But Louise's attention to these small detail faltered as her gray eyes came to rest on the person lying in bed, who had only just looked up to see who had come in.

Toby looked pale, ruffled and almost ill-looking. But he was here, he was alive and suddenly, Louise let every shred of self restraint collapse in to a million pieces. She sped past Sarah, almost tripping over her friend's leg as she did so. Running around the perimeter of the bed, she stopped stock still at his side a wrapped her arms around his neck, tears of the good kind leaking out of her eyes.

He was here, alive and breathing. Nerve brain and bounding heart.

She pulled back and looked down in to his eyes, smile still bright on her features. He stared back up, eyes wide as he opened his mouth to form the words Louise had been dreading.

"Who are you?"


	27. Determination

**Sorry it took me ages for a small, filler chapter guys, but I've had the opposite of writer's block: OVERFLOWING MUSE. It's rather annoying, actually, when you have six ideas running around in your head and you can't write them down because you have OTHER STUFF TO BE WORKING ON. THANKS A LOT BRAIN.**

**So yes… you might see some other stories being posted soon xD I'll try not to stretch myself, because I am determined to finish this fic :D**

Gratitude

Chap 26

Despite her theory being proved true, she still blinked back in surprise. Her lips numbly stuttered out a confused "W-what?"

He looked back at her with his beautiful green eyed stare, equally confused. Patiently, he repeated himself.

"Who are you? And can you take your arms off please?"

An inaudible gasp of embarrassment escaped her throat as she pulled back hastily, before improvising an answer. Going in to too much detail would surely make his already damaged head hurt more.

"Me?" she asked nonchalantly, hands behind her back, "Oh I'm just a… a friend. Yeah, a friend. Louise." She gave a false, happy smile and nodded her head in his direction as she introduced herself. Sometimes, a small lie was better than a big and complicated truth, even if it hurt to tell it.

Toby still looked at her strangely. He didn't know this woman at all. Her face was unknown to him, as well as her voice. But something about her eyes… they spoke to him somehow. Like windows with curtains over them that were almost transparent; he just wasn't looking hard enough to see what was behind them.

"Oh," he uttered, looking down in to his bed sheets, a little disappointed that nothing came back to him. Of course he knew of his condition. The doctor who he had first seen had been the one who told him he was suffering amnesia. The odd thing was, this hadn't been devastating at all; it was, in fact, quite the opposite. It gave an explanation to the giant, blank void in his mind. Not to mention, it wasn't as hurtful as it could've been, due to the fact he didn't know what he was missing. The earliest memory he had was one from when he was eight years-old- and even that one was particularly foggy. Other than that… absolutely nothing.

Once again, the blonde haired girl felt her heart shatter in to a million pieces as she saw how dejected the man she loved looked. It was as though his whole world had been swept from his feet and no matter how hard he tried he couldn't stand back up again. This wasn't Toby, defeated and lost looking. But the turn of devastating events that had taken place had lead him to become just that: defeated and lost.

A gentle touch on her shoulder caused Louise to turn around, and meet the surprised yet morose gaze of Sarah. The brunette reflected exactly how the other girl felt, and no words were needed to express anything; they'd known each other long enough to be able to communicate without speaking. This little trick did come in handy sometimes, even for situations like this.

In unison, the two girls turned to the nurse still at the door. She didn't look angry at Sarah's outburst at all; she just let her clipboard dangle in front of her, held by both hands as a sad look of understanding was worn on her features. With a twitch of her head, she beckoned them over and led them out of the room, closing the door quietly behind her.

Nearby, there was a staff office of sorts, with two computers, wooden chairs and coffee mugs everywhere, both empty and full. The nurse placed her clipboard on to a nearby desk and sat down, patting two other seats next to her. The girls too sat down.

"Now, girls, as you may have guessed, Toby is suffering from po-"

"Post-traumatic amnesia." Louise answered automatically, finishing off the surprised nurse's sentence; the woman blinked back at her.

"How did you-?"

"Nurse. Like you. I was also there when Toby… when the robbery occurred." The blonde girl answered, gulping down the words she didn't want to say. Even if Toby was alive, she didn't want to remind herself of what had happened. The pain was still there, though it was becoming easier to handle now that she knew he was alive.

"Oh, well that saves me five minutes of explaining," the nurse stated, before looking at Sarah, "Unless you'd like me to…?"

The brunette waved her off. All she needed to know was that Toby didn't have a memory. Simple, not complicated terms were good enough for her.

"Well then," she continued, "The state of his memory is a bad one, I won't lie to you. We still haven't figured out what hit him yet, but I can tell you it must've been something thrown with supreme force. That, or it was extremely heavy."

"How about a bit of both?" Louise asked bitterly, remembering Mason's final feeing moments from the bank.

"What do you mean, love?"

"He was struck in the head by… the robber. Would a heavy metal revolver do the trick?"

"Yes," the nurse murmured, glancing down then back up, "I think it might."

There was a passing moment of silence, in which the air seemed to fizzle with unsaid information and a few clicks of understanding. Eventually, the ginger haired woman spoke again.

"Now, I must warn you two: don't be too devastated if he doesn't remember the simplest things, like where he lives, let alone who you are. And for all we know," she paused, leaning in close as though she wasn't supposed to be telling them this, "His memory may come back in twenty minutes, or twenty years. There's no telling with this sort of amnesia."

Louise seemed to droop where she sat. The prospect of having a memory-less Toby for twenty years was not a welcome one.

"You can help him though."

Both girls sat a little straighter at the mention of helping Toby; it would be amazing if they could get him back.

Nurse Jenson continued, "If you show him familiar places, haunts, hobbies, pictures, heck even recordings, it might trigger something. That in turn will trigger something else and then lead on to something else until eventually he'll remember everything. There might be a few glossy patches, such as when he went unconscious or when he woke up in hospital, but other than that he'll remember everything."

Incredulously, Sarah whispered "Really?"

Sitting back up, the nurse nodded. "But don't get your hopes up too high. It's a complete chance that he'll remember anything. It depends or not whether you get lucky."

Knowing full well that Sarah's hopes were already sky-rocketing, Louise nodded, before asking yet another question.

"So… what now?"

Picking up the clipboard and a pen, nurse Jenson answered as she began to scribble notes, "Well, he has to recover first. Only then can he be taken home, with or without memory. You'll have to be there to support him though, as well as any other friends or family."

_Would two million fans count as 'friends'? _Sarah asked herself mentally. It was a valid question after all; could you be friends with people you didn't even know?

Abruptly, the nurse stood with her clipboard still in hand. Louise and Sarah followed suit as she lead them back outside Toby's room.

"Try your best." She bade them, before opening the door and allowing them in.

_I will… _Louise thought sadly to herself.

Because even if it was the last thing she did, it would be to get his memory back.

**Determined Louise FTW.**

**R&R please! ^^**


	28. This Is What I Do?

**You guy deserved a long chappie today, 'cause you've been so patient. I'd also like to thank music for this chapter- it wouldn't be here without it :D**

Gratitude

Chapter 27

She had visited him constantly. Her and Sarah. For four whole weeks, on the clock.

And still, there was nothing there.

Sarah had tried to keep completely positive, constantly repeating "Once he's out of the hospital, we can show him around places he knows, or show him Gryphon or his vlogs! He'll be _fine. _We'll get our Toby back!"

Louise nodded, planting a false smile on her face a nodded, pretending, hoping and praying that Sarah was right in every single way, that Toby would be… well, Toby again, whether it was sooner or later. Preferably sooner.

Mason still hadn't been caught, although his 'getaway car' had been found on the outskirts of Monterey Park. Policemen and women alike were now combing the area and another news report had been broadcasted and splurged everywhere just so the message would get out. Absolute raging havoc had erupted on the internet as soon as the victim's name had been mentioned. Sarah had checked for Louise, and reported that 'It's the internet version of the apocalypse.' Rumours were everywhere, both ridiculous and truthful. Louise refused to hear about them though; she didn't want the situation made worse even worse.

The blonde haired woman thought all this and more as she walked beside Sarah once again through the familiar halls of the 'Long Stay- Patients' ward. She'd seen the boringly pale walls so many times now that she felt sick just looking at them. Sick, just by thinking about anything to do with hospitals, injuries, sadness and tragedy.

That's when the thought occurred to her. Well, in all honesty, it had occurred to her far more times than she'd like to admit, even before Toby had popped in to her life.

She didn't want to be a nurse, or a Doctor. Sure, she helped people, and that felt good, but… all the hurt and pain she'd have to witness, all the guilt she'd have to bear if she messed up once… that was far too much for her. Admittedly, the only reason she had ever opted in to this profession was because, well, everyone had forced her in to it. The members of family Louise had left had all agreed she was a smart girl, that a medical profession would be amazing for her; heck, even _Sarah _had suggested it. Fun, party-going Sarah. If the brunette had said it too, as well as everyone else, Louise hadn't exactly been able to say no…

But so much change had happened over the past three months, so much had happened. Without really realising it, something inside her mind had just… _clicked. _

She was going to take charge of her own life, damnit!

There was swift click as the pair once again opened the door to room 182, the usual sight of Toby in his bed unknown to them today. Instead, he was dressed and looked as though he had been awaiting the girls' arrival. Nurse Jenson was beside him, mouth slightly agape as though she had just been talking. Said nurse straightened up and nodded to the girls in greeting.

"Well, you all know what to expect," she gave a specific look in Louse's direction, even though she was talking to all three of them, "So… good luck."

* * *

The ride home was, in one word, odd. The trio didn't laugh and joke like they would've done, but talked about little things here and there amidst spouts of silence. The most notable difference was of course when Toby spoke. It was like a completely different person had taken over his body; even his voice sounded different. It wasn't loud or exaggerated in any way, and neither were his facial expressions. He reminded Louise of shy school boy who was too afraid to speak out in class – timid, not his real self. It hurt to see him like that.

All of a sudden, the engine had stopped rumbling. Louise stared out of the car windows and raised an eyebrow – Toby's house was two streets away from here. Why would Sarah stop now?

"Uhh, Sarah? What're we doing here?" the girl asked, turning to the driver-who just so happened to have a manic grin on her face.

_Oh God no._

"You're not thinking…?"

"Oh yes I am!" Sarah interrupted, before turning to face Toby, who jumped in his seat as her voice hit his ears, "Toby!"

"Uh, what?"

"We. Are. Vlogging. Right now!"

With that, the brunette jumped out of the car on to the sidewalk. Louise giggled at the confused look on the man's features. He turned his gaze to her and raised an eyebrow, causing an embarrassed blush to ignite her face. Usually, they would've laughed together; but as she had thought before. Toby was a different person now. He was Toby but… he wasn't. It was a hard concept to wrap your mind around.

Sarah was already loading up her phone's video recorder, scrolling through the buttons and options available; the brunette had always had a love for technology. That was where she and Louise differed. The only thing Louise knew how to use was a computer, and her knowledge of those was limited, to say the least.

"Are you sure this is a good idea? Vlogs? And how are you meant to upload it to his channel anyway?" she whispered, as she heard the slam of a car door as Toby followed after the girls.

"Of course it is! A way to banish all the rumours and possibly get his memory back I think it's a brilliant idea!" Sarah whispered back, holding up her phone. It was ready to record; just _what _it was going to record was a different matter. "Oh, and he keeps all his passwords on his phone," the girl added nonchalantly, not looking up from her phone screen. Louise did a double a take.

"You went through his _phone?!"_

"Not the texts or pictures!"

"Oh, and that makes it alright then, does it?"

"Well, how else am I supposed to-"

"What are we doing then?"

Both girls jumped and turned their attention to Toby, who had just appeared next to them, staring curiously at the phone still held aloft in Sarah's hand.

"Well," Sarah began, receiving a look off of Louise that clearly said _'We'll discuss this later'_, "Before your brain conked out on us, you used to have this whole… c_ommunity _on the internet."

"Internet?"

"Oh, this is gonna be a _long_ conversation…." Sarah refrained from face-palming, Nurse Jenson's words ringing around in her head. _"…don't be too devastated if he doesn't remember the simplest things…"_

"Okay, well uh…. Imagine a giant, uh, house- oh shut up Louise- that, um, stores different sorts of entertainment for the people who live in that house, like games to play and videos for people to watch."

"Kinda like a mall? Or arcade?" Toby questioned further.

""Yeah… let's go with that. Well, you were one of the people who posted videos to entertain people. Your nickname on it was 'Tobuscus'. Ring a bell?" The girl added hopefully.

"…Nope."

"Damnit. Anyway, you had loads of people who liked your videos. Over two million actually."

"Whoa, really? So I'm sorta… famous?"

"Sorta. There are over seven billion people on this earth, remember."

"And two million of those are probably wondering what's happened to you, considering you haven't posted a video." Louise added helpfully.

"So we're going to make one!"

Toby looked panicked for a second. "B-but what do I do?"

"Oh don't worry, me and Louise will ramble for you!"

Louise, who had been happily smiling until now, let her Mouth gape and her eyes widen. "Oh no, no I don't want to-"

"Of course you do!" The brunette insisted, putting an arm around Louise's shoulders and pulling her closer so she couldn't escape. And with that, Sarah pressed the record button.

"AUDIENCE?" She began, in an unusually good impression of Toby, "WHAT'RE ARE YOU DOING LOOKING AT SOMEONE WHO ISN'T TOBY? That's precarious audience!- INTRO OF NOTHINGNESS BECAUSE I HAVE MY HANDS FULL!"

In the corner of the recording screen, Louise could see Toby's face, startled and a little shocked, looking at the vlogging girl as though she were an alien. He bent down a little and whispered in to Louise's ear.

"I do _that_ on every video?"

The girl laughed, "Yeah!"

"I'm a bit… strange, aren't I?"

She laughed even harder, "Yeah!"

"SO," Sarah started up again, beginning to walk down the street, the other two following hot on her heels, "You guys are probably wondering why a complete stranger is doing a LazyVlog right now – well, you aren't gonna believe me, but some of the rumours that have been flying around lately are kinda… true."

The brunette switched the cameras gaze to focus in on Toby's still confused face, before looking back to the camera, a serious tone in her voice.

"Stuff happened and, uh, I don't really know how to put this, but Toby got amnesia. And no, this is honestly not a joke." She added in a mock whisper, "He doesn't even know what the _internet _is!"

For emphasis, Louise shook her head at the camera.

"And now, I'll hand you over to Loubuscus who can explain everything a little bit better!"

"What? No, no I'm-"

"Oh shut up and take it like a woman." Sarah joked, shoving the phone in to Louise's outstretched hand.

She held the little device up to where she thought it looked alright and carried on walking, "Um, well, amnesia…It's unpredictable. For all you medics or nerds out there," she carried on, getting in to the knack of walking and holding up a phone at the same time, "he's suffering from post-traumatic amnesia. It pretty much means his memory could come back in five minutes or twenty years. Yeah… not that good."

"He doesn't remember who he is, what he does or who his friends are. But hopefully we'll be looking back on this in a week and laughing, huh?"

Louise finished her little explanation, bringing with it a moment of sad silence, mainly shared between herself and Sarah, who quickly took the phone back again.

"Okay then!" she added, a little too cheery for it to be believable, "Well, that's this tiny, informative vlog over – OUTRO OF NOTHINGNESS AGAIN! Toby, would you care to do the 'Boop'?" she asked, turning the camera to face Toby again.

"What's a 'boop' when it's at home?" he asked staring back and forth from Sarah to the phone.

"It's where you make the 'boop' noise really loudly before ending a video. Like this: BOOP!" Sarah demonstrated, making five happily nesting birds fly away in fright out of a nearby tree.

"But won't people stare at us?" The man questioned further, looking at a passing couple who were already staring.

"Aw, come on Toby. For your fans?"

"Uh, okay…?" He looked directly at the camera, "Boop?

"Louder, Toby!" Sarah persisted.

"BOOP."

"That's more like it!" Sarah exclaimed, before hitting the record button for the second time, stopping the recording, before saving it and shoving her phone in to her pocket. God knows how it fit in there.

"…So that's what I do everyday, huh?"

"Pretty much, amongst other things. So," Louise began, turning abruptly to face Toby full on, stopping the trio in the middle of the sidewalk, "d'you remember anything?"

The man gained a look of highly concentrated thinking for a moment. His brows creased and his eyes wove back and forth for a moment.

"Is it weird that the name 'Jack' comes to mind?"

A smile grew on the both girl's faces.

"Nope. Not at all."

**R&R please!**


	29. The Ribbons Of The Sky

**Ughh, sorry guys D: So... much... writer's block... I think I'm dying :S**

Gratitude

Chap 28

Nothing much had happened since Toby's latest 'breakthrough' (remembering Gryphon), and though Louise was extraordinarily happy for the man she loved, she couldn't help but feel her heart break a little bit more every time he looked at her with an unloving gaze. He still didn't know her, didn't know what they had been through together, didn't know the troubles and laughs they'd had. It hurt. It hurt so much, in fact, that the woman had felt her throat tighten and tears prick her eyes just _looking _at him. But she'd keep smiling, keep being brave, keep a positive mind. He would get his memory back, she kept faith in that.

Today was yet another attempt to trigger his memory. She and Sarah had dubbed it 'Tour Day', even if it wasn't _really _a tour. Just a walk around Los Angeles or, more specifically, anywhere near where Toby lived. The silliest, most abysmal of things could trigger his memory, so why not a familiar neighbourhood?

Shoving her phone in to her jean pocket, she nabbed her coat from the hanger beside the door and slung it over her shoulders. It was an unusually cold day for Los Angeles, clocking in at a cool 14°C. To some this was nothing – heck, Scottish people braved far worse than that, even in the summer- but to the people of L.A, it was considered extraordinarily cold.

By the time she finished this little thought process, she was at the end of her front garden path, eyes crinkling a little in a smile as she saw two familiar people standing behind the gate, waiting for her.

Sarah (for some, utterly unknown reason) had a thick pair of gloves on, as well as a bright neon striped scarf and hat, as well as an overly packed rucksack hung on her back, like she was ready for an expedition in the furthest regions of Everest. Sure, the weather was a little bit on the cold side, but was all that getup really necessary?

She moved her gaze from the woolly-wrapped girl to the man stood next to her, a grin of greeting on his face, an old glint of his mischievous self shining through. Again, Louise felt her heart break that little bit more. Toby sort of knew who he was now, excluding the entire YouTube thing. He remembered Jack, Sean and even Olga a little bit, but he didn't exactly know why yet. But other than that, there was still nothing there. No recollection of herself, Sarah, Mason, the car crash, the night he had saved her… all those important things and he hadn't remembered one of them.

"Cold today, isn't it?" Sarah chattered as the other girl approached, hugging herself tightly.

"Not _that _cold, you big wuss." Louise retorted, closing her garden gate behind her, "Toby's not dressed like we live in Canada, and neither am I."

"He's just trying to be all _macho." _The brunette persisted, landing a playful hit on said man's shoulder. He laughed.

"Do you two ever stop arguing?"

"Nope." The two girls answered simultaneously. There was a split second of silence, before the three of them burst in to a bout of laughter. Sometimes, timing was just so perfect.

The trio began to walk down the street, falling in step with one another, recovering from the laughing. It had become much easier to joke around with Toby over the past week what with various aspects of his personality gradually coming back again. He was becoming more himself, and yet he still had no clue who both Louise and Sarah were. Well, okay, he knew that they were all friends, but he didn't _know _them. Not to mention what he had had between himself and Louise. Still no clue on that one.

"So, where to first?" Louise asked, curious as to where Sarah was leading them.

In answer, the girl turned around and said cryptically, "How d'you two feel about a nice, loooong , relaxing walk?"

The other two merely shared a look of concern, but not for Sarah. For themselves.

Where could she possibly drag them this time?

* * *

It had already been about five o'clock in the evening when Louise had left her house, so at six thirty it was now getting quite dark around the city. Lights were going on all over the place, and the city view from where the trio were standing was just magnificent.

Neither Louise nor Toby knew how she had done it, but the ever hyperactive brunette had found the most beautiful place to be in Los Angeles on an increasingly cold night like this. It was, essentially a huge, vast, grassy hillside, with the greatest view anyone could ever wish for. All three of them sat on a blanket looking out over the skyline, the hustle and bustle of the city quiet from where they were sitting.

A breath-taking mix of the most vivid oranges, pinks, deep midnight blues and yellows were strewn across the sky like intertwining ribbons, the playthings of angels. Even some of the stars, dimmed though they were, could be seen above the great towering buildings of L.A, mingling with the artificial light from below, clashing together in an explosion of colour and sound like an almighty war, ages old.

It was awe-inspiring.

"See, aren't you two glad I didn't give in to your whining? And we still got to travel around whilst we were getting here! Aren't I a genius?"

"I still have no idea how you found this place, Sarah." Louise said, totally blanking the other girl's smug, rhetorical questions. Honestly, that head of hers was so big sometimes.

"Well, you see, if you look out a window every now and then, you're gonna see a great big hill staring you in the face-"

"Always with the sarcasm, huh?" Louise countered, cutting across the girl's words. The brunette flashed a smile.

"What else?"

"Uggghhh, you're so _annoying sometimes."_

Sara just laughed, before going back to staring out at the skyline, closing her eyes as a fresh breeze of wind fluttered across the landscape like an icy cold breath. She had always been one for nature. When she was a child, she couldn't go outside without climbing a tree or two.

Toby too closed his eyes as the breeze swept over him, inhaling the smell deeply. It was the only genuinely fresh bit of air he had breathed in a long time. Los Angeles tended to be in short supply of anything 'fresh'.

As the welcomed breeze ended its caress, his eyelids fluttered open and fund the familiar figure of Louise sprawled across the ground, blonde haired splayed around her head like a golden halo.

…_thick blonde locks fanned around her head, giving the impression of a halo…_

He blinked in surprise at the sudden image that flashed through his mind. Louise… sprawled across a sofa, unmoving…

Where had he seen that before?

The memory was there, but it just wasn't tangible. He couldn't grab it, and as quickly as it had appeared, the memory vanished.

Trying to forget the momentary distraction, he went back to looking at the blonde haired woman laid across the ground, eyes staring up at the sky, alight with wonder. For some reason it made the man smile, to see her so happy and content.

_Warmth underneath bed-sheets, forms fitting together like puzzle pieces. The belonged together, they needed each other…_

His brow creased once again at the hazy image. What was _that?_

And in that moment it seemed to dawn on him.

The memories weren't there, but he knew. He knew…

"You're not telling me everything, are you?"

The words had left his mouth before he'd had a chance to stop them.

And, rather bruptly, Sarah suddenly became very interested in rustling around in her rucksack, completely obscuring her head from view in the bag. It was only then Louise realized the question had been aimed at her.

She sat up from her position and turned to look at Toby, who still had his head toward the sky. Tentatively, she began to speak, tasting every syllable on her tongue, trying to carefully word the sentence.

"What d'you mean? We're trying to get your memory back… why wouldn't we tell you everything?"

Finally, he turned to look at her. Sarah's head just got that bit more deeper in the rucksack as she carried on pretending to look for something.

"You know what I mean." He said softly, eyebrows arching a little, a glimmer of something that looked like sympathy in his eyes, "You… and me. We were… more, weren't we? I'm not stupid, even if I act like it sometimes."

Morosely, she returned his gaze, gray eyes cloudy. Her head tilted slightly in an almost unnoticeable nod. There was her heart, breaking just a little bit more. She didn't have much more left to break.

"Yes," she smiled sadly, turning to face the sky again as a memory popped in to her head, "You sang to me. Brilliant, by the way." She gave a laugh, albeit a dampened one, "You and Sarah organized it all behind my back," at this point, she prodded him in the chest as she had done twice before. The action made her feel worse, but she carried on speaking, "We had to run from your fans afterwards. That was… _fun, _for want of a better word."

She let another humourless laugh escape her lips. This was the one conversation she had wanted to avoid having at all costs. But there was no escaping it now.

"You know how you lost your memories, right?" she asked suddenly, facing Toby again, his sad eyes staring back at her. The question took him by surprise.

"Uh, y-yeah, I was shot. At a bank robbery. I don't remember it though."

The girl leant forward, crossing her legs and picking grass out of the ground. The little bits of greenery slid through her fingers as easily as Toby's memories had slipped through his own. It was like trying to hold smoke in your hands; it was there, but you just couldn't keep a hold on it.

"I felt so bad," she carried on, the man's gaze hot on her back, "I still do, actually. I don't think I ever won't feel guilt for what happened to you, Toby."

"It wasn't your fault though," he laid a consoling hand on her shoulder, "You weren't the one who pulled the trigger, were you?" he added in a feeble attempt at a joke.

"No," she said in a bitter tone as she heard the words she said next, "But I caused it to happen."

Toby didn't even attempt to console her this time. He listened with rapt attention at what the girl was going to say, curiosity and worry growing in equal amounts.

"You took a bullet for me." She whispered, still staring at the grass in her fingers, "You _saved_ me. Again."

Slowly, her body turned to face him fully. Her hands held his tightly and she looked him in the eye, gray to green.

"And now you don't even know who I am."

Her voice cracked, and finally, after an entire month of holding it in, after an entire month of being brave, she let the tears spill.

All she remembered from that night was how Toby held her close and rubbed little circles in to her shoulder, telling her that it would all be alright in the end, that he himself didn't quite understand, that he was just as confused and upset as she was.

And, she thought, in the end, it really did help.

**R&R please!**


	30. Answers

**Sorry about the wait guys! Life sorta kicked me in the stomach and I couldn't recover for a month xDDD**

**Before I start, however, I'd like to give a nice big shout out to "Last Of The Star Makers" and their story "Chance Meeting At A Coffee Shop". It's another, brilliantly written TobuscusxOC story and I would highly recommend it! :D**

**Gratitude**

**Chap 29**

A loud sigh escaped Toby's parted lips as he sat on an old park bench, staring up in to the sky. It was unnaturally early in the morning (well, for him anyway) to be out and about already, but he was just so… _restless. _He couldn't help it. Even if his body was threatening to fall asleep then and there.

Ever since that night on the hill a month ago, looking over the beautiful skies of L.A, he couldn't help but wonder… what had it been like? With Louise?

It was a reasonable question after all. It was only natural to be curious about a woman who you supposedly loved and took a bullet for and now had no recollection of who she was. Ridiculous, obvious questions like '_Was she fun to be around?' 'Was she caring?' 'What're her hidden qualities?' _Bounced around his skull so much it was giving him a headache.

And to top it all off, the one thing that made it even worse was that he could see it now.

The hurt. In her gray eyes.

Every single time she looked at him with that false smile and sad eyes, unbearable guilt wrenched at his stomach like an invisible hand had grabbed hold of it and was twisting it round and round. _What is it like_, he wondered, _to see someone you love everyday when they don't even know who you are? _

His respect for the woman rocketed at that thought. How brave she must be to live through that?

Leaning forward, he rested his elbows in his knees as his eyes drank in his surroundings. It was just a park; slowly yellowing grass and the early morning rush kicking in as everyone milled about their business. _Not a care in the world, _he though enviously, _you don't know how lucky you are. _

There was still no news of his attacker 'Mason' yet, and he feared that there never would be.

And that was the other thing that was bugging him. He could tell Louise still wasn't telling him absolutely everything about the night he got shot. Or anything for that matter. Heck, she hadn't even told him how they'd met for God's sake! It was infuriating!

…

Maybe that was what she did to him. Infuriate him in only the way a loved one can.

A grin grew across his lips as he thought of that.

The man rubbed his hands together one last time before standing up and letting out a yawn. It really was too early. Maybe a lie in underneath warm bed-sheets to mull over his thoughts would be best….

His legs froze, however, as a bright string of images went flashing through his mind at that very moment, like some absurd slideshow programmed on the back of his eyelids.

* * *

_He and Louise were outside on a porch, the sun beginning to set in the distance as they sat on old white chairs that creaked whenever he shifted slightly. _

_Her blonde hair fell around her smiling face, illuminated by the sun's disappearing rays as she put down two cups on the small table between them. From afar, as though he were underwater, he heard his own voice utter a question. _

_"What else don't I know about you?"_

_As girl plonked down in to the chair beside him she thought for a moment, before answering wryly:_

_"I like my coffee black," she replied, smirking._

* * *

Toby blinked, clutching his head with one hand. With a jolt, he realized he was sitting on the bench again; his legs must have given out as the new information was processed. But that didn't matter now.

He had remembered something. No matter how small and insignificant, he had remembered something, and that was exceptional in this situation. Plus the fact that it was about _her_ made it all the better.

So did this mean what he hoped? Was he finally starting to recall everything? Were the pieces finally falling in to place?

Hope had begun to grow in his chest, twining around his very bones like vines. It was like a small flame had been lit, but it needed more fuel to survive, to thrive on. Maybe Louise could help him remember something more, if he could get to her soon enough.

Toby didn't even have to think; his legs automatically began trotting toward Louise's house. He'd grown so accustomed to the neighbourhood now that he could probably walk around it blindfolded.

What he didn't count on though, was running out in to the middle of the road. There was a horn beep and Toby was suddenly pulled out of the way of the oncoming car, tires screeching as they skidded on the road. A shout of annoyance was thrown out the window, but Toby wasn't paying attention to that. The thing that attracted his attention was the hand on his shoulder.

"Geez Toby, that's the third time you've almost died in the past six months. Don't you think you should, you know, give it a rest?"

Thick eyebrows creased, long brown hair untidy on his head and glasses resting on the bridge of his nose was Jack, staring sceptically at Toby, as though he were trying to get himself killed on purpose.

This was another person Toby was supposed to know extraordinarily well, apparently. But, once again, his brain refused to let on. The only thing Toby knew about him was that they used to work on projects together sometimes for YouTube. Something about someone called Scarlett Johansson…

He shook his head a fraction, trying to clear it. Jack raised an eyebrow further.

"Um, yeah, I guess so – wait," he stopped mid-sentence, staring Jack full on in the face, "The _third _time?"

If it was possible, Jack stared at him more strangely, "Yeah man, third. You know, three, trois, tres?"

"Well, I sorta… haven't been told about those… times."

Jack's face fell in to an expression similar to that of sympathy. If Toby had a dollar for every time he'd seen that look in the past month, he'd be rich beyond belief.

"Why don't I tell you about them then? Louise wanted me to check up on you anyway."

Toby's mood sank. Why was everyone treating him like a little kid?

He shrugged. "Sure, whatever."

And before he knew they were walking, and he finally got the answers he needed.

**R&R please!**


End file.
